


Act 3 - Those that see

by VNVdarkangel



Series: The achromatic case [5]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Psycho-Pass
Genre: Alternate Character Interpretation, Alternate Universe, Crime Fighting, F/F, Minor Character Death, Sybil System (Psycho-Pass)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:14:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 26,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23096926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VNVdarkangel/pseuds/VNVdarkangel
Summary: With renewed resolve and relationships built, Division L goes to work to put a stop to the killing once and for all.
Relationships: Hoshizora Rin/Koizumi Hanayo, Kira Tsubasa/Kousaka Honoka, Minami Kotori/Sonoda Umi, Nishikino Maki/Yazawa Nico
Series: The achromatic case [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607551
Comments: 105
Kudos: 54





	1. The theory

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Act 3 and thank you for being here. If you landed here without reading the prior acts, please do as I might do some call-backs, as the chapters are not self contained and rely on prior chapters. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the ride.

“… and that is how it works.”, Maki Nishikino concluded.

To her surprise, no one said a word.

Maki looked around at her audience. Everyone’s expression was blank, with one exception, the person sitting next to Rin who was typing away on a tablet.

A message superimposed herself over Maki’s presentation.

_I agree with Miss Nishikino. Even though we have no real evidence, and this is circumstantial, it fits the scenario. I can start to screen for citizens with that condition, though not everyone might be aware they have it._

Looking around, Nico raised her hand.

“Yes Ni…ehh Miss Yazawa?”

“I think that I speak for the majority of my colleagues here… I don’t think we understand what you’re trying to explain to us. We don’t have your background in neuroscience so, frankly, this is way over our heads.”, she looked around, catching the occasional nod.

Maki looked disheartened. Nozomi, sensing Maki’s frustration at herself, jumped into the conversation, seeing that Nico was about to run up to the exasperated Maki.

“There is no fault in your presentation Maki, just we aren’t on your level to be able to understand it. Could we ask you to explain it again, perhaps on a more basic level. I feel it’s important we understand and you are the only one that can help us. Please.”

Maki looked in disbelief at Nozomi, then at the others. Nods and smiles greeted her.

“We need you Maki. Please”, said Nico smiling at her partner.

Maki visibly relaxed.

“I’ll try.”, she said, taking a deep breath.

“As you probably know, we form memories by association, like the word for a colour to the colour we see, or the taste of sourness to what we think of as sour.”

All nodded.

“Now, think of your favourite food, you might remember where you had it the first time, or where the best version of it you’ve eaten.”

“Ohh like that ramen I ordered delivery from Ippudo. It was amazing and came with a cute cat toy.”, Rin burst out, causing the woman next to her to hunch.”

“Yeah…”, Maki wasn’t really sure what Rin had meant, “when we remember we sometimes see in our minds eye something associated with it.”

Nico looked straight at Maki and let her tongue wet her lips. Maki blushed.

“Ehh, yes.. right”, Maki wrestled back control, “Now imagine that this happens every time you see or taste this. And that the memory is very real.”

“That would be very distracting.”, said Umi Sonoda.

“Yes Miss Sonoda. It would be. Now imaging that it would be the only sensation you would experience of the type, whenever you had something else, you’d remember nothing, feel no taste.”

All looked at her, not really understanding the implications.

“I’ll explain in another way: Imagine you could see only grey, no colours at all, just shades of grey. Now think of that the only way you can see colour would be to hear a certain sound, say a chime, or smell a certain type of flower. Then for a moment, your world becomes vibrant and colourful.”

She looked around, satisfied that her analogy had been understood.

“Would you not try to hear that sound or smell that slow as often as you could?”

She saw slow nodding spreading around the room.

“It’s like a drug.”, Nozomi mused, “Invisible, requiring an innocent action. And no one else would be able to see it.”

“Exactly, just in our case; blood is the key. What property of it, I have no idea, but given how the cuts are executed, how the victim is kept alive, we can make a guess as to that it’s either the smell, touch or visual sensation of blood. And there are no other substances like it.”

“But does it have to be human?” asked Minami, clenching her fists.

“I’d wager a yes. Our blood is different than that of animals, but usually it takes a medical test to determine that. Maybe the perpetrators tried animals, noticed it didn’t work and then switched to humans. Who knows. We now at least know why.”

_Thank you for explaining it Miss Nishikino._

Maki focused her eyes on the person sitting next to Rin.

“No bother, Miss Koizumi.”

There was a small shriek, Rin held on to the small woman, shielding her from the surprised stares of the others in the room.

The voice of Sonoda penetrated the stares:

“Give her some space. It is admirable she’s here in person. Do not engage.”, she nodded in Koizumi’s direction.

The room was still for a moment.

“Ok. Now we know what we are probably dealing with. We know that they are multiple perpetrators involved and that they are driven like a narcotics user, but more organized. Check the reconstruction lab. Maybe there is a clue that got scanned that we missed.”

Kotori raised her hand.

“Yes Minami?”

“Kotori. I’ve been reassigned to combat training.”

“We know.”, Nozomi interjected, “Koizumi and Nishikino will handle it, don’t worry. And good luck. I’ve trained with Sonoda, she’s relentless and very professional.”

“I know.”, she looked at Umi, who surprisingly blushed a little.

Recovering, Umi said:

“There is one more thing. Miss Nishikino, could you set up a memory extraction session. I saw something before I blacked out. I need to find out what it was. I am aware of the dangers.”

Maki nodded.

“I’ll get it set up.”

“Thank you.”

“Let’s get to it then.”, Eli closed the meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're off.
> 
> The condition is called synesthesia and is a real-world psychological condition.  
> Ippudo is a japanese ramen chain restaurant.


	2. The lap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will the lap be the last?

She was tired, dead tired.

Her legs screamed at her to stop, her vision was blurred and she felt the sweat running down her spine, drenching her already wet clothes. Her footsteps were slow and staggered, she would not last long.

Around her she heard the gasps and yammering of the others, broken bodies strews across the field of battle. Ragged breaths echoing, the occasional sob escaping their throats.

A shadow came up next to her.

“Are you giving up?”

She could hardly focus on the speaker, or on the question.

“Wha…yes… YES! I can’t do it anymore.”

She heard a sigh.

“Fine, then give me one more lap!”

She was perplexed. Hadn’t she said she was giving up?

“But I…”

“But what, rookie?” was the harsh response.

She put all her pain into her voice.

“But U…”

“What am I here?”, snapped back at her.

_Ahh… right._

“But ma’am, you said it was fine?”

“And I also told you to do one more lap.”

Was it ok, or wasn’t it? Her head was spinning, she was so confused.

“I’ll run with you.”

She felt the other running next to her, urging her on.

She ran, putting all her pain and will into each step, leaving the others behind. After a while she saw the finish line, then it was gone. She couldn’t see it anymore, had she missed it. She lept on, the person next to her keeping even pace.

Again, she thought she saw the line, then it was gone again. Was she hallucinating? She continued running, not caring if her shadow stayed behind.

Then she saw the line again, but her legs gave out, muscles, no longer having any way to sustain them, seized up and she collapsed, rolling inelegantly towards the line, her arms stretching out towards the goal, just managing to touch the other side of the marking.

She heard a soft voice near her ear speaking on low tones.

“Well done my love.”

Kotori Minami rolled over, letting the sun shine on her. She had been the last one. All the other recruits had fallen of earlier, but she had managed, if only by sheer force of will.

And Umi was proud of her, that was all that mattered as she, exhausted, regarded the sky, slowly regaining her strength.

Seeing Kotori relax, Umi surveyed the rest of the field. The mixed group of enforcers and cadets to the MWPSB, lay in heaps around the field in the stadium. Some had given up almost directly and not even put in an honest attempt. These she would fail, and without a passing grade, they had no chance of advancement. They would be stuck here. Something they didn’t know. <yet.

Some had put in a decent effort, but the burden of the previous lives had made any real effort only last a short while. But she’d seen that they would improve, that they would apply themselves. To her, that was enough. You were never good at the beginning, skill and ability came with training, never luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's take out the elephant first, it has taken way too long to update this time around. Reason is quite simple, I've been busy, both finishing other stuff, planning out the story and such things. Also, the state of the world has had effects on me, like many others. I lost my job so I'm looking at the prospect of being unemployed for I think the third time in my life since I started working, not a prospect I look forward to.
> 
> I've got savings and hopefully some state support in the future, but most of my energy is focused on finding employment in my field. But undoubtedly there will be more time for writing. I have a couple of other projects rolling that I might put up to, just to be able to update different things as mood and inspiration strike.
> 
> I hope you can bear with me during this time.
> 
> Stay well and stay safe.


	3. Preperations and secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koizumi and Nishikino set up the memory extraction equipment for Sonoda.

“Ehm, Miss Nishikino? “

“Maki.”, Maki Nishikino insisted, adjusting the equipment.

“Oh… right. Sorry.”, said Hanayo Koizumi, typing away at the tablet, eyes focus on the screens in front of her.

“Would you,” she continued, “mind if I ask you a personal question?”

“You can always ask. I might not answer though.”

“Of course, I understand. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”, the typing continued.

“Well, what is it then?”, Maki looked up, eyeing the analyst over the bulky equipment.

She stopped typing.

“Do you and… ehh.. Miss Yazawa… ehh…”, Hanayo fell silent, her ears getting warm.

“Ehh… well… what do Nico and I do… ehhh”, Maki blushed, hoping it was nothing too intimate.

Maki heard a deep pull of breath.

“ _KISS._ _DO YOU KISS?!?”_ , Hanayo shouted.

Startled by the outburst, Maki jumped back.

“What?”, She shouted back, but slightly lower.

Hanayo had turned to her and looked as if she was embarrassed out of her wits.

“Have you and Miss Yazawa kissed? Please, tell me.”, said the soft voice.

Maki exhaled the stress she’d built up, annoyance taking its place.

“Not that it matters, but yes. We kiss. We’re… in a… relationship… kinda… sort of… I hope. It’s… complicated, ok? Why?”

“Well… I want to do that too.”

“What?!? Kiss Nico. No way. She’s.. she’s… You can’t.”

Hanayo looked like she’d seen a ghost, her hand shot to her mouth.

“No. No. No. I didn’t mean her… I meant… I…”, she spluttered.

“ _Rin_ ”, she whispered looking down.

Maki stood dumbfounded. Rin? The energy bunny? Well, they had been sitting next to each other at the briefing.

“Oh… oh… I see. But why ask me about Nico?”, she went back to assembling the unit.

“Well I, “she had sat back down and was typing away, “was wondering. Do you think Rin’d like that?”

_Sometimes, ignorance is bliss._

“I think she would. Haven’t you noticed that she treats you special?”

“What?”

Maki appeared from the workbench.

“For one: she calls you _Kayo-chin_. She has no nicknames for anyone else. She talks about your discussions during breaks and it’s clear to see how happy she is that you talk, she goes out of her way to protect you. Like during the briefing today.”

Hanayo stopped typing.

“So yes, I think she’d like it. I also think she might have been wanting to do that for some time. She doesn’t really hide that she likes girls or her feelings.”

The typing resumed, breaking the silence.

Hanyo hit a final key.

“Done. Memory retrieval program loaded and adjusted for Miss Sonoda’s profile.”

Maki snapped the last part into place.

“I’m done too. Sonoda’s training should be done soon too.”

Maki looked away.

“Miss Koizumi?”

“Hanayo.”

“Hanayo. Thank you for trusting me to ask that question. And”; she said slowly,”… Nico is special to me. I think… I’m in love with her.”, Maki turned to Hanayo and smiled shyly.

“I wish you luck then..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a short one while I'm building up the world for the last act.
> 
> For those that don't know, I lost my job due to all the stuff going on in the world, so I've had some brushes with depression about the entire situation. This has left me with very little energy to write anything. Over the past days I've been able to climb out of that hole for a bit to write. And keeping going seems to be the ticket. Updates will be a bit more sparse since I need to remake/adjust the plotline slightly. But I know how I want it all to end.
> 
> So, I humbly ask for your patience while everything is being assebeld and written. I welcome your questions and comments, even if just to say hi. 
> 
> cheers.


	4. Green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin asks Nico for advice and Umi discovers a possible accomplice.

Rows upon rows of monitors display camera footage on the same location but from different times and angles. To any uninitiated it was a cacophony of images. To Rin and Nico, it was a normal day, well almost. They looked over the footage from the roof passage where Rin had been shoved off. Every time they came to that section Nico noticed visibly wince, so she’d offered to look at those passages.

What they had found was that they grey cloak the attacker wore interfered with the scanners as the psycho pass didn’t read correctly and obscured exact body shape and size. Given the movement they had concluded that it was probably female, fit and with strength belying its size.

Now they were looking through footage from the other crime scene, but the lot was a blind spot. And the cameras sometimes displayed the same scene, though others changed.

“They fixed the cameras… smart.”, Nico muttered.

Rin hummed in agreement, but Nico could tell that something was up with the usual energetic Rin.

“Okay, I’ll bite. What is going on?”, she asked.

“What?”, Rin replied, confused, “Nothing.”

“ _When someone says is nothing, it’s something_. So spill.”

Rin looked around, making sure they were alone.

“You’ve seen Kayo-chin right?”

“Not as much as you it seems.”, Nico smiled at Rin’s sudden blush, “but I guess as much as anyone.”

The orange-head fidgeted.

“Do you think she likes me?”

Nico looked up from her monitors to look at Rin, who was uncomfortably squirming in her seat.

“Why don’t you ask her?”

“Me? But no, I can’t do that. I’m just an enforcer. I’m…I’m not as well put together like Miss Sonoda or you. I’m all over the place. I could never be someone she likes, I’m all she… she…”, Rin spouted out, the words almost falling onto themselves.

“Besides…”, she shyly continued, “I’m a girl, I don’t even know what she’ll say about that.”

Nico sighed.

“Gods, do you want her as your girlfriend or just sleep with her?”

Rin’s blush became extremely red.

“Maybe… both”, Rin whispered, looking down, “I mean you and Miss Nishikino…”

“Stop it right there! What Maki and I do is our business!”, Nico suddenly noticed that she’d stood up, menacingly pointing at Rin.

“Sorry.”, Nico apologized, “In truth, I don’t know what we are, it’s gone so fast, that neither of us knows, ok? But it’s more than just sex.”

Rin’s blush remained.

“Look, “, Nico continued, sitting back down, “talk to her. It is the only way to know. I know she’ll hear you out, but, if you want my advice. Try to be a bit less gun-ho about it and ask her calmly.”

“I can do that.”, Rin said, and fist pumped.

* * *

_Green._

Her vision was filled with green.

Then, a fraction of a second later, it all went dark.

She inhaled sharply, her lungs were burning, her body limp. Her mind tried to focus but was left in limbo, unable to move in any direction, just able to observe what was going on...  
Then time moved backwards. Dark, green, the taste of earth, white, pain. And resumed forwards. A pain, slow, methodical and searing spread through her, knocking her breath away, making her gasp as she felt her body growing limp and unresponsive, her mind reeling in agony, her vision became a shower of white until it filled every space. She tasted the cold, damp taste of earth, the grit of old roots and leaves from the past autumn. Death, decay and the root of life, all rolled into one sensation. She willed her head to lift, trying to focus her eyes, then she saw it; green. But not just the colour, but eyes in the purest emerald green she had ever seen. Keen, sharp and unrelenting. Observing her without a shiver of emotion. Everything else was unimportant, these green eyes were her key, her anchor to hold on to. She focused, trying to hold the image, then everything went black.

“We got it!”, Hanayo shouted triumphantly, “Get her out!”

Maki quickly walked over to the console and triggered the release sequence, the body of Umi Sonoda slowly separating itself from the machinery. All the instruments told Maki that Sonoda was in deep shock, heartbeat uneven and mental activity all over the place, but Sonoda looked completely calm as she came out of the memory dive. She opened her eyes, the pupil slowly adjusting to the light, the iris showing more and more until it steadied, the breathing patterns becoming deep and slow from their quickened state. Maki glanced over at her monitors; Sonoda’s vitals had almost returned to normal. What kind of mental faculties and discipline did this woman possess?

“Were we successful?”, Sonoda asked in a level voice to the surprise of Maki.

“Yes.”, she replied slowly, “How do you do that? I mean… how can you be so calm?”

Umi turned towards her.

“It’s mental training and discipline cultivated over years of practice. I could teach you a few pointers if you like.”

“Ehh... maybe some other time.”

“Can I see?”

“Ohh what? Ah, right. Hanayo?”

Hanayo, typed a few keys and a large holographic image of two deep green eyes appeared in the middle of the room.

“Here. No matches yet.”

They all looked at the projection. A passive green state looked back, the meticulously styled eyebrows and make-up telegraphing the probable gender.

“I’m certain this person is somehow involved, for she made no movements either towards or away from me when I was incapacitated. And there is no fear in those eyes.”

“Also,”, Sonoda added, “when I was found there was no one near me, meaning that whoever shot me probably didn’t consider her a threat.”

“We must find her.”, she concluded, Maki and Hanayo nodding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been way too long since I wrote anything here... so here we go. A clue that might lead somewhere.


	5. Green (pt. 2)

Eli looked intently at the image projecting from the wrist-com. Lifeless, green, intense eyes stared back at her

_What do you see with those eyes when you slice, when you kill?_

She felt herself getting more and more agitated as she tried to ponder the reasons, a bad sign. She looked over the reports again from team. The video surveillance was guesswork, the autopsies held nothing new and the memory scoop had been the only lead to a possible witness or accomplice. To Eli, she was a suspect.  
It was hard, neigh impossible, to make any kind of assumption on a person’s psycho-pass by using an image alone, but as Eli stared into the green eyes, her instincts all told her that this person was not like the others. She would almost call it apathy, for Eli was certain that they had seen Sonoda getting shot and falling to the ground in front of her, but the eyes were, _calm_ , if she had to use a word for it. Eli suddenly began to feel calmer too, something that puzzled her, suddenly looking into those blank green eyes did not mer her agitated, what was happening?  
Eli’s concentration broke, suddenly the world around her began to move, the noises of the dining hall came, the smell lingered in her nostrils. And it was a pleasant smell and there was a warmth coming from somewhere.  
She looked up… into the face of Nozomi Tojo. For how long had she been there? Eli’s eyes traced the length of Nozomi’s outstretched arm, reaching across the table. It ended at Eli’s left hand, Nozomi’s hand gentling touching the top of hers.  
Normally she would have retracted her arm immediately but for some reason she didn’t move, she liked the warmth she was feeling. Nozomi didn’t move her hand and Eli began to want more. She gasped, willing herself to control.

“Please remove your hand.”, she said evenly.  
“And here I though you liked it.” Nozomi said, slowly removing it, staying in contact as long as she could.

_I do._

“Was there something you wanted?” Eli asked  
“Nothing really.” Nozomi answered, “Just curious.”  
“I take it you saw this?” she pointed at the image, “And how Sonoda kept her cool?”  
“I have. She’s impressive alright.”

Eli sighed.

“Wish I knew how she does it…”  
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

_It is? Then what is it?_

“I don’t follow.”  
“Oh come on Eli.”  
“No. I don’t have a clue.”  
“ _Love._ Sonoda has an unwavering faith in Minami. That lets her maintain such an effortless control on herself. I think she still feels responsible for not being fast enough to save her, so she puts herself through all this as penance.”  
“Professional opinion?”  
“You know I can’t discuss that. But if you read her file you’d know.”

_Love… is that even a simple reason to push on?_

“May I?” Nozomi asked, holding up her hand.  
“What are you going to do?” Eli asked, sceptically.  
“No matter. But I need you to trust me and close your eyes. I will not hurt you.”

_Probably some psychological test. Very well then._

“Fine.” Eli nodded and closed her eyes.

For what seemed like an eternity nothing seemed to happen, she could sense Nozomi stir, but nothing more. Then suddenly her right cheek felt something, a heat. It was warm and comforting, like a heated blanket on a cold Russian winter night. The heat spread through her, gently wrapping itself around her. Eli felt her heart rate increase, but none of the dark thoughts that usually accompanied that manifested. She opened her eyes.  
Nozomi’s face was close to hers.

_So close… I could almost…no… too close_

“W—what are you doing?”

Nozomi gestured at her hand that held Eli’s cheek.

“Feels nice, doesn’t it? A gentle touch, full of emotion.”

Eli felt her nose collide with Nozomi’s. She jerked back, Nozomi still held her cheek.

“I wouldn’t have stopped you.” she said.

_How can she be so calm?_

“I—I’m sorry.” Eli stood up, immediately regretting the loss of contact, “I… I have to go.” And walked away.  
“One of these days… I will catch you.” Nozomi muttered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where do I even start? It's been, wow, about four months since I last write anything on this story, getting caught up in my assassin AU and some loose stories with a classic pairing and an unusual one. In the middle of everything, a couple of days after I posted the last update, I was informed that I'd be loosing my job, so I guess that also did that I needed to focus on something new of my mind would have gone completely nuts. I'm enjoying somewhat of a vacation at home before I start a new job, second week of August.
> 
> For those that have stuck around, thank you. To those new, welcome! I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> My plan is to get the bulk of the third (and final act) done before I start working, so we'll see how that goes. Most of the story is plotted, but who knows where inspiration might take me. 
> 
> Please enjoy, comment and look forward to the next chapter.


	6. Nighttime

The light of the city spread out before her. Here, in her hiding place, she was safe, alone and unmonitored. Her mind could flow free if she wanted it to, but she kept it reined in. There was too much as stake, not only for herself, but also for the city. It had given her a second chance, one that she sometimes didn’t know if she deserved. She had still been part of the generation that had grown up, at least partially, without the system. Before everything was monitored and controlled, when your score determined what you would do, not own personal taste. It was still possible to do that now too, but a mismatch was much easier to blame if something went wrong.  
When Sybil had first come online, she had just joined the force, full of will and energy to fight the good fight. That lasted until her first scan. She’d been given a choice: become an enforcer or be jailed. The choice had been easy. She absorbed material on ancient mediation techniques and mental conditioning, because even if the cage was golden, it was still a cage. Somehow, she’d managed to crawl ever lover in the coefficient scale until she broke the 100-barrier, essentially becoming a member of society that needn’t be confined and chaperoned. Ever since she’d been careful, screening out anything that could tip the balance back. And now there was Tōjō. Something was tugging inside Eli, telling her to get closer, to accept the obvious invitations, to be more open and truthful, but at the same time, warning bells were ringing. The risk of letting herself go and returning to the cage hovered over her and that was something she didn’t want.

* * *

Umi Sonoda closed the book she’d been reading, carefully leaning over to place it on the nightstand. Next to her Kotori Minami was sound asleep, exhausted from her first day as a rookie. Sonoda felt a sense of pride; Minami often joined in when Sonoda was training, but today had tested her mental limits and Sonoda was proud of what she had accomplished. Kotori was beginning her transformation and Umi would watch and help, but never push her along or dote on her as her trainer. In private, she would complement, but with words and physical actions, but on the training pitch, she would be just and fair.

Sonoda gently leaned over and softly kissed Kotori on her cheek.

“Mmmh… just one… more… round….” Kotori whispered in her sleep.

 _I do wonder what that was about_ , Umi thought as she switched off the light, and turned to spoon Kotori who subconsciously nestled herself into the embrace.

* * *

Rin Hoshizora looked up at her ceiling, trying to get her thoughts into order. The talk with Yazawa had made her realize that there were a few things she needed to process and think through, something she wasn’t used to doing. She’d spring into action and just as quickly stop, task accomplished, alone. Now she had another person and their feeling to consider, and she’d learned enough to know that being her usual over-energy self wasn’t really the platform for a discussion that she needed to have. Besides, it was important.

“Kayo-chin, are you there?”, she asked into the air.

A small chime on her wrist-com signalled an incoming call. She confirmed it.

“I’m here.” Hanayo Koizumi’s voice said.  
“You don’t have to sneak peek on me, you know. You’re welcome to come here anytime you like.”  
“I… I know.”  
“Are you busy? Can I talk to you?”  
“Of course. What’s wrong?”  
“I… I… I…” The words got stuck.

Rin sighed.

“Kayo-chin?”  
“Yes?”  
“I… I can’t do this like this… Can I see you?”  
“I… I don’t… I don’t know.”  
“I need to talk to you, but I can’t do it like this, please? I’ll stay outside in the hallway. Please Kayo-chin.”

The silence stretched for several seconds.

“Okay.”  
“Thank you.” Rin smiled and got up.

A few minutes later she stood outside of Koizumi’s quarters, the door was open. She sat down, back to the door.

“C—Can you hear me?” she asked carefully.  
“I can.” Came the reply. It sounded very close.

Rin took a deep breath.

“I don’t really know how to say this…. except by being totally up-front about it. I… ehh... I really like you. You’re kind, you’re considerate, you’re smart. And… you’re very cute.

Now… I don’t want to assume anything, but I want to tell you… that… that I would like to get… closer… to you.”  
“Closer?” it sounded almost like a shriek.  
“Yes, but not in a bad way… I.. ehh…”

_Better be honest._

“I see the connection that Sonoda and Minami have and… I feel that I want that too, with you…. I want to ask you if you want to be my girlfriend.”

A gasp.

“You don’t have to answer now if you don’t want to.” Rin quickly continued in measured words, “I... I… just wanted to tell you. I’ll leave now. Thanks for listening to me.”

She stood up and was about to turn to leave.

“Don’t go.” Koizumi’s voice said, “Could you stand by the door? With your eyes closed?”  
“Ehh… sure…” Rin faced the door, she couldn’t see anything, she closed her eyes. It didn’t change much.

She felt something was moving closer to her stopping as it was in front of her. She could feel breath directly in front of her. Was Koizumi going to slap her for suggesting something so foolish? Rin waited, not moving. What she felt next almost took her breath away. Her cheeks were caressed by, what must have been, Koizumi’s hands. They felt warm and tender, the touch very gentle and soft. Rin’s face felt the breath becoming stronger. There was a slight tug on her cheeks, and she leant forward. A soft, warm sensation, spread across her lips, pressure mildly increasing as the moments got longer. She could sense her heartbeat increasing. All too sudden, her lips were released, her cheeks still in the caress, Rin slowly opened her eyes and was met by an image of herself, reflecting in Hanayo’s eyes, the face of the analyst deeply shaded in red.

Hanayo didn’t pull away. She kept Rin’s cheeks in her hands, unwilling to let go. Rin slowly raised her own hands and moved them on Hanayo’s cheeks, receiving permission to go ahead. Rin slowly leant a bit more forward, again sealing the contact.

* * *

Nozomi Tōjō looked at the image of the green eyes while writing the day reports at her desk, but her thought rested with her blonde colleague. The bombshell she had dropped before the morning briefing and the consequences was still toiling around in Nozomi’s mind. To her, it was clear as day; Eli was stressed out, constantly looking over her shoulder, afraid and alone with no one to really turn to. Nozomi knew that she probably added to the stress, but she also knew that she could help the blonde release the stress and become accepting of herself. She knew that there was something, a… spark of sorts just waiting to ignite. She would continue to mine for it, balancing her anonymous counselling to help Eli see the possibilities. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be too late to save her, that Eli would let herself be saved.

* * *

Nico Yazawa finished up the dishes from her dinner with Maki. The red-head herself had left some time ago, the good-night kisses almost taking as long as desert and tasting twice as good. Things were moving and moving fast, and Nico wondered when they would hit a bump and what that bump would be and if they would be able to navigate it. There was something there, but their personalities could clash quite easily, so far, wonder smoothed everything over and any initial hostility between the two had gone.  
But what was it they had? A relationship? Courtship? A partnership? Whatever it was, it made Nico feel something that she hadn’t felt in a long time. That she belonged somewhere. And that feeling was something she hadn’t felt since she had to give up seeing her siblings and mother when she’d been arrested. They had kept on sending her messages, but she never replied. But, like clockwork, something always arrived at their respective birthdays, a last lifeline to her former life. Nico didn’t want to shame them with her status, they meant a lot to her.

_Maybe, I’ll tell Maki more about that some day…_

The door chime sounded.

_Who could that be?_

She picked up a towel and went to open the door. Maki stood, blushing on the door step.

“Hey.” Maki said, twirling a lock of hair.  
“Hi.”

Nothing happened.

“What are you doing?”  
“Finishing the dishes, getting ready for bed.” Nico could see a small twitch in Maki’s eyebrow.

_I know what you want… I want it too, but you need to ask me._

“Cool. Good.” The twirling intensified.  
“Yeah, got to get some good beauty sleep.”

_Don’t make me say it… it’s so embarrassing…_

“Yeah, good sleep speeds recovery and heightens mood. Important that.”  
“Mhm. Besides, we need to be rested in case there is an emergency”

They continued to stare at each other.

“Did you want anything?” Nico asked.  
“Ehh.. nothing special. I just… came by.”  
“I see.”

The twirling got even more intense. The silence continued. Finally Maki cracked.

“Aurgh! You’re impossible, why don’t you get it? Why would I come here so late? You’re teasing me, aren’t you. Damn y…” Nico’s lips sealed the rest of the tirade away. Maki’s body relaxed.

“Want to spend the night here?” Nico asked, gently stroking Maki’s cheek.

“Please. I… don’t want to be alone.”  
“You don’t have to be. All you have to do is ask.” Nico pulled Maki inside and closed the door.

* * *

Tsubasa took of her headset, another day’s business concluded. Being a CommuField personality made her day/night cycles a bit skewed, but it had never bothered her much. The evening and night were simply better times. She heard a sound as unexpected as a plane crash; Someone was knocking on her door. She was pretty certain that her neighbours didn‘t hear her and also that no one could enter the building without her being notified.  
She grabbed a light metal pole from under her bed and walked to the door and opened it, hiding the pole behind her back.  
Inspector Kosaka was leaning on her wall, breathing heavily.

“Inspector?”  
“Honoka.” Honoka was trying to still her breath.  
“Honoka… what are you doing here?”  
“I... I… had to see you.”  
“Oh?”  
“I just got worried that you might get hurt so I hurried here.”  
“But how did you get in?”

Honoka held up her MWPSB id. She tittered.

“Sorry.”  
“Well. As you see, I’m quite fine.”  
“Good.”

Tsubasa just saw a glint in Honoka’s eye and then she jumped, stealing kisses and gently pushing Tsubasa back into her apartment. The door slammed shut behind them as discarded clothes began to litter the floor.

* * *

 _There she is_ she thought, _not long now._


	7. Dreaming in colour

She dreamt in colour.

Vivid orange and blue. Light pink and red. And with it came pleasure, intense pleasure. The few streaks of black and grey could not interfere or diminish the pleasure. Her hands held on to the strands of orange as not to lose the sensation. As the lips parted, a deeper feeling inserted itself into her, The rhythm, the sound, her words. All of it shone with colour. Almost there… almost…

She woke up with a jolt. She looked around; her bed was empty.  
She touched her body, shudders arcing through her when she disturbed the sensitive areas.

She didn’t want this sensation to ever go away; she didn’t want it to disappear, ever.


	8. Grey Council

Three robed grey figures floated in the void.

“What is the hold up?” asked a figure.  
“Yes, why the delay?” asked the other.

The third was silent for a moment.

“Recently the sensations have intensified, I believe that if we were to strike, it could prove disadvantageous and we might lose out. I need more time to set this up properly.”  
“Are you certain you’re not letting your personal feelings get in the way?

The grey cloak turned red.

“What do you take me for? A schoolgirl jacked up on hormones? No, it will be done, but there are some things I must understand first. So be patient. It will be worth it.”  
“Fine” said the second with the first one nodding, “we’ll wait, but remember she is also the enemy. If she gets us, it is over.”  
“Don’t worry. They will never be able to stop us; the scanners can’t touch us.”  
“Good.”

The cloak turned back to grey.

“I will keep you updated.” the figure disappeared.

Two figures remained.

“Do you think she’s gotten sweet on this one?”  
“Who can say? It’s not like we keep an eye on her.”  
“Maybe we should?”  
“Are you insane? If she were to find out…”  
“Relax. She won’t. Too focused. I just wonder… what is so special with this one?”  
“Isn’t the fact we can see colour without cutting her up a good start?”

There was a moment of silence.

“No. then we could, say, cut off the hair and we’d have it forever. No, something just doesn’t make sense. We need to watch them.”  
“Fine, if you say so.”

Another moment of silence passed.

“Still on for later?”  
“Sure am, can’t wait. I’m hungry.”  
“You’re insatiable”


	9. When a lie is to be safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kotori sees a side of Umi that scares her, has it been there all along and was Umi just keeping her?

The training hall rang to the sound of grunts, slams, curses and the occasional scream. Umi Sonoda walked through the ranks of the rookies, those left in the program. She sometimes stopped to observe a session more closely, giving pointers or showing techniques.

“Your first priority is to destabilize your opponent.” She said to a student, “When you can do that, you will be able to act more freely and close the distance.”

“No. No. The grip goes here, not there. Just think, if you held there, would you be able to spin your opponent around?” she said to another.

Even though she’d told herself not to play favourites, she could not help to cast a glance at her lover, sparing with another student two times her size. And winning. Sloppy, but a win was a win.  
In a world of Psycho-Pass, Dominators and drone suppression, one could argue that hand-to-hand combat wasn’t anything that was useful anymore except for the sake of athletics. Sonoda did not hold to that. To her, all these things that basically made her a full-time prisoner, were tools for a more harmonious society. She didn’t like being a prisoner, but the cage was not such a bad one, once you faced the fact that it could be much worse or that you would be dead.

A cry from across the floor caught her attention, a student obviously lost his or her nerve, Umi turned and had to muster all her control not to run.  
Kotori’s sparring partner was obviously annoyed that he never got a hit in, her graceful, almost dance-like moves always denying him the hit. So had started to trash-talk her. Umi could not hear exactly what was being said but the words “pet”, “teacher” and a word defiantly befitting her partner.

With hurried steps she saw the student lunge at Kotori, who elegantly stepped past the attack, turned her back and planted her stun-gloves on the base of the neck and the side of the body. Her opponent shook uncontrollably for a second then fell to the floor. The counter had been more flair than effective and Umi did not approve. Fighting was elegant, but you never sacrificed your safety just to make a move stylish.

“Trainee Minami!”

Kotori took a second to switch over. She stood at attention.

“Yes teacher.”  
“Minami, what was that?”  
“I… I don’t understand.”  
“That move. The way you defeated Satoshi. And Satoshi, we are going to have a conversation about language.” She hissed the last sentence at the student who was still getting up.  
“Yes, teacher” was the meek reply.  
“Well, Minami?”  
“I… ehh. There is no reason not to make it beautiful, so I did.”

Umi sighed. There was one part of being an instructor that she never liked, disciplining her trainees.

“Minami… I agree that there can be elegance in fighting, but never at the expense of your safety and that of your team.”

She walked a few steps away and picked up the fake knife Satoshi had held in his hand. She turned to Kotori.

“Do exactly what you did before.”  
“But I… I don’t want to hurt…”  
“Defend yourself.” Umi said and attacked.

Umi rushed Kotori, fainting a slashing motion with the knife only to turn it in mid-air and to attack with the grip like a blunt object. Kotori quickly turned into Umi’s motion, beginning to spin around her, raising her gloved hands to connect with Umi’s body… that wasn’t there. Umi rammed the hilt of the training weapon first into Kotori’s shoulder, then the crook of her neck with just enough force to destabilize her so she fell to the floor, dazed.

“Everybody pay attention.” Umi shouted in a commanding tone. The entire class turned to her, “Learn this lesson fast; _Never_ expose your back to your attacker. Ever! You lose control of the situation and have no idea where they are or what they are doing.”

Umi waited for her message to sink in.

“ _Understood?_ ” she bellowed.  
“Yes teacher.” Was the unified response.

Umi’s instincts suddenly flared up and she did and low evade followed by an upward knee… that hit Kotori square in the stomach. She held the injured part, took a few steps back and collapsed, looking up at Umi, seeing a person she did not recognize. Umi was next to her in a heartbeat.

“Kotori, I’m sorry. I acted on instinct… I… someone get the kit, call the medics.”  
“How… how… “Kotori managed to get out. “How come… I’ve… never seen… this…”  
“I... I never….”

Kotori suddenly understood; the Umi she knew was the quiet, reserved version. The embodiment of calm and control: her Umi. But this brutally effective Umi that had floored her in less than a second was something else. Someone else. All those times when Kotori had _won_ their sparring sessions, their _altercations_ before sex had been…. a lie.

She smacked away Umi’s outstretched hand, Pain and betrayal in her visage as she turned away from Umi.

“Kotori, I…”  
“Don’t. Talk. To. Me.”

The medics arrived, quickly checked on Kotori then put her on the stretcher and as they left Umi heard the word _Liar_. Then they were gone.

* * *

Kotori stared out into nothingness, her thoughts completely focused on processing the image of Umi she’d seen. The cold, efficient fighter. No love, no kindness, no emotions had been visible in the eyes she’d look up at, seeking comfort.

_Was she playing a game with me this whole time? Not showing me her real self, just a mask for me. So that she could use me? Why did she let me do those things with her?_

She searched her memory. When she’d had her episodes, Umi had always just let her strike out, never retaliating. But today… today Umi had struck her, like a common criminal, without thinking and had looked at her with those cold, dead eyes.

_But… why am I thinking like this? I know she’s a fighter, I know… she helped me, she saved me. Without her… without her…_

Kotori jumped up from her bed.

_I have to tell her!_

* * *

Umi sat mediating in her room. She heard a knock and the door opening.

“How can I help you, inspector… Tojo?”

Nozomi was perplexed, did this woman have eyes in the back of her neck?

“I think the question, Miss Sonoda, should be if I can help you.”  
“If you are referring to the incident in training, I’m really not sure who you could assist.”  
“So you’re ok with what happened?”

Sonoda stood up and turned.

“Of course, I’m not. I made one of my students afraid of me. Me. Personally. Not the trainer, who they should fear, but the person.” Umi said, agitation creeping into her voice.  
“ _One of my students_ , really? Is that all she is?”  
“I… well… no. But in that setting she is a student; I must keep myself distanced. And Koto.. ehh miss Minami is aware of that.”  
“But you’re not the trainer now, are you?”  
“I’m on duty 24/7. I’m always ready. But no, I’m not the trainer right now.”  
“Then why don’t you say her name?”  
“I did.”

Nozomi sighed. Somewhere underneath the pride, hurt and embarrassment, lay the truth.

“You started saying her name, then corrected yourself.”  
“Ehh…”

 _Here we go…_ thought Nozomi.

“Let me ask you then… what do you want?”  
“What? What kind of a question is that?”  
“Answer it.”  
“For her? I want her to get well.”  
“Nice sentiment. But… What do you want?”  
“I want you to leave.”  
“Not happening. What do you want?”  
“I’m not playing.”  
“What do you want?”  
“I… I want… to be….”  
“ _Bzzt_. Too slow. What do you want?”

Nozomi could see the chiselled polished façade begin to crack.

“Wha---… you… why?”  
“What do you want?”

_Crack._

“I want you do leave.” Umi said, her voice cracking.  
“I’m staying. What do you want?”  
“Leave me alone.”  
“Nope. What do you want?”

_Crack. Shatter._

“You want to know what I want??? Fine I’ll tell you.” Umi took a deep breath, red dusting her cheeks, “I want to be able to walk outside with Kotori. I want not to wear this bracelet that keeps me in my cage. I want for Kotori to be without fear, and to love me for who I am, not just the version of me that is in control of myself. I want to be able to tell her my feelings, my heart and have her accept me and stay with me. I want to live in an apartment outside of here, with Kotori as life partners, not being afraid of having myself or her get stunned or eliminated if we step outside the door. What I want is to live again. With Kotori. Nothing but her wellbeing matters to me and if I need to be tough for her to grow then I will. Even if it hurts me to my core. That is what I want.”

Umi panted, trying to get air back into her lungs.

“Then… maybe you should tell her that.”  
“What? No. She’d never accept me like that. I saved her, she sees me as her protector and maybe a lover, but not as a partner. I’m selfish for wishing all that, I just want her to be happy.”

A new voice broke in the conversation, a figure moving out of Nozomi’s shadow.

“I am… when I’m with you.” Kotori said.

Umi stiffened.

“Kotori… since when… what…”  
“Since you want me without fear.”

Umi sank to the floor, bowing to Kotori.

“I’ll leave you two alone…” Nozomi said, slowing backing out of the room.

“Kotori, I…”  
“Is it true?” Kotori interrupted.  
“I… yes. Kotori…”  
“Then ask me.”

Umi looked up, she could see tears forming in the corners of Kotori’s eyes.

“Kotori. Will you accept me? Flaws and all?”

Kotori rushed to and embraced Umi.

* * *

A few hours later, Kotori was playing with Umi’s hair.

“Do you think it feels different, without any walls?” Kotori asked.

Umi swung her mind back to the past hours. Had it felt different? Probably. Instead of the manic episodes and the speed and force connected to them, their time had been gentle, soft and deliberately slow. Like relearning who they were.

“I do.” Umi answered, “It felt more… purposeful. More _meaning_. I have difficulty putting it into words.” Her fingers traced along Kotori’s exposed back.

“Can you tell me?” Kotori asked.

Umi collected her thoughts.

“When I was competing… I could _turn off_ for a lack of a better term, so that I didn’t sub-consciously have to worry about the scanners. It gave me an advantage.”  
“It scared me…”

The sound of an alert on their wrist-coms interrupted Kotori. Inspector Kosaka appeared as they acknowledge the call.

“Scanner picked up something and we got a local report of a female screaming, which as since stopped. Blood has also been reported. Minami. Hoshizora. You’re with me. Tojo, Koizumi and Yazawa will check if anything is happening online so we can contain it. The rest are on standby with Ayase. Let’s move!” the call ended.

“Umi, I…”  
“You’ll be fine. I don’t think they’d call you out to the field if they thought it would be dangerous at this point. You’re still in training after all. They probably need the analyst.”  
“Let’s hope.”


	10. Copycat

Everything has, in a sense, a spinal cord. A central route through which all impulses and sensations travel. No judgement, only transport. A singular vein of knowledge. The City had Sybil. But it had also taken it one step further. With judgement being passed mere seconds after an act, it had evolved, was involved in everything and present everywhere. So, when a sudden change in a Psycho-Pass rating was detected, automated systems acted first. But then the feed cut out. Interpreting the disconnect as a sensor giving false data, it was flagged for replacement. Sometimes automated responses were simply wrong. This time, they were very wrong.

* * *

Her last moments were spent screaming. She felt her life oozing away, her vision and awareness almost gone. She didn’t want to die. Not here, not like this. Somehow, she still had the energy and awareness to scream, but she knew it would not last. The feeling of drowning became more and more apparent. Singular globules of blood intermixed with her breath, landed on the sheets and the wall. The globules soon became a stream and she collapsed. In the stillness of death there was no pain anymore.

* * *

“MWPSB! Open up!” Kosaka shouted.

She stood with Hoshizora and Minami outside an unmarked door in a multi-floor domicile in the west of the city, Dominators ready.  
Minami felt uneasy holding the gun, it was lighter than its bulky frame gave her the impression of. But it felt powerful, like it could turn the world upside down if it wanted. The most unnerving thing had been when it _spoke_ to her. And the others didn’t seem to be aware of it. She knew the technology with directed sounds, but to have an actual perfect application of it was something else entirely.

“No answer. Koizumi, let us in please.”

There was a _click_ and the door opened just a little. Kosaka, pushed it open until it collided with something. She signalled to Rin who took point.  
Glancing though the crack, Rin saw what was blocking the door. A body. She gently pulled the door back.

“We need a cutter, if we push, we’ll topple the body and destroy the scene boss. She’s dead anyway.” She said.  
“I can get in with the probes and start to collect evidence.” Minami said, pointing at the small case she had in her hand.  
Kosaka nodded.  
Looking down it looked like the seal hadn’t been able to handle the blood coming from the inside and it had leaked under the door into the hallway. If someone hadn’t stepped in it and reported it, they might have been here even later.

Minami directed the small probes from the screen in case, the others observing either on site or remotely.

The picture was gruesome. A woman in her late 20s was sitting on her knees, slumped forward, her head resting on the door. The probes, with little lights and manipulators, allowed for a very personnel inspection.

“Oh, my gods.” Nishikino said over the wrist-com.  
“What?” Kosaka asked.  
“This one is different. Minami… ehh... Kotori… you see it too?”  
“Yes. The cuts are… in the wrong places, uneven. “  
“And? See the discoloration?”

Kotori moved the probes to focus on the area.

“Oh no…. she was…”  
“Yes. Rest easy now. It’s all over. “Minami heard Nishikino say.

Nico looked up from her screen, regarding the tears in Maki’s eyes.

_You feel so much._

Koizumi stepped into the moment.

“I’ve pulled up the video and am tracing. It’s a male. By the ident scan his name is Daisuke Naro, age 48. The victim is a co-worker in an office building. His last scan was 3 months ago. No abnormalities. Digging through his data I found something. Pictures of one of the crimes. Seems to have come from a bulletin board for edge surfers.”  
“Edge surfers?” asked Ayase.  
“I’ve heard about them. “Nozomi said, “People that try to get a high crime coefficient for sport. Keeping it just below a 100. Spoiled rich kids usually.”  
“Those _idiots_ ” Ayase hissed through her teeth.

 _It’s really bothering her. I have to talk to her later, help her._ Nozomi thought.

“I… I got him. He’s back in the building? What is he doing? He’s stepping into the elevator, avoiding the scanners, but not the cameras… how odd…” Koizumi said, “He’s coming to your floor…be ready.”

Kotori and Honoka heard the chime of the elevator down the hall and a man stepped out and turned towards them. He stopped the instance he saw them.

For a moment nothing happened.

Then he began to run.

Rin and Kotori immediately gave chase, leaving Honoka.

“Minami and Hoshizora are in pursuit. I’m staying with the body. Send a pickup.” She shouted into the link, hoping the previous mission would not repeat.

* * *

Kotori and Rin sped through the corridors guided by Koizumi’s guidance when they lost sight of their target. Naro threw his weight against a door and it opened, violently hitting the wall and beginning to close as Rin jump kicked it again and broke it off its hinges.

“He jumped down into the back yard, no cameras there so I don’t know where he is.” the voice in their ears said.

Rin and Minami looked at each other and jumped down. Each moving in a different direction, Dominators at the ready. Slowly and methodically they searched the area.

“He’s still in there. I have all the exits up and no ones has left the area. “

The backyard was the usual assortment of items, small and large that no one had bothered to remove. Adding to the feeling of an urban jungle, nature had decided to claim back its land, over growing the area with tall grass, bushes and weeds.

Rin held the Dominator in front of her, the sight superimposed on her vision. Stalking through the tall grass she felt it move and she jumped back, a shovel impacting the ground where she had stood. Her Dominator was not so lucky. The blow of the shovel cracked the upper housing, the weapon becoming little more than a paperweight as the sight picture disappeared from her vision and the crackling of fried electronics could be seen and smelled.

Naro, now jumping up from his hiding place, stood with the shovel facing Rin.

“And what are you?” He shouted. “Another girl that wants to be a boy like that bitch?”

Rin didn’t reply. She stood her ground waiting for his next move.

* * *

Kotori had heard the commotion and was now, still hidden, aiming the Dominator at Daisuke Naro.

_The targets crime coefficient is 203. Enforcement mode: Paralyser. Fire and subdue the target._

Kotori could see Naro aiming another strike in front of Rin, who effortlessly jumped away, but in doing so, blocked Kotori’s line of fire.

“What’s the matter? Can’t hit a girl when she’s not tied up?”  
“She was mine, but then that harlet went off with the manager for a conference. He’s married. When they were back, she barely talked to me. I knew she’d been with him…” he swung again, the shovel getting stuck.

Rin took the opportunity and kicked the handle, splintering it. Any advantage of range was now gone. They circled eachother. Kotori had a clear line of sight again.

 _The target assessment has been reappraised. The targets crime coefficient is 318._ she heard as the Dominator modified itself, sliding parts around. _New enforcement mode is: Lethal Eliminator. Fire and eliminate the target._

Kotori waited, her trigger finger twitching. She knew what she had to do, but just killing another person? What if he could be saved? Then she thought back to the scene. The victim had been sliced up, raped and left to die. Kotori felt cold anger boiling up, quickly checking herself, she closed the trigger.  
The pulse traveling from the muzzle to the target embedded itself in its flesh. For the longest second nothing happened. Then Naro’s skin began to expand, big lumps of deformed and bloated skin and tissue formed around the impact site, spreading outwards. She heard a gurgling sound as Naro tried to scream only to be stopped by his own swelling body, then, with an explosion of blood and viscera, it was all over. What was left of his body collapsed to the ground. Rin wiped the gore as best she could from her face.

“Shit. I hope I never get used to that.” She said, as her reflexes took over and she began to vomit.

* * *

Umi swiped at the gun camera footage on her tablet. Kotori had hesitated, but Umi wasn’t sure if it was good or bad. The man had posed a serious threat, that was certain. She would have to ask Kotori when she came back.

* * *

Clean-up was performed by a fleet of drones, while others formed a perimeter, their happy animated faces warding off any immediate onsets of panic and area Psycho-Pass degradation.

“You did what you had to do.” Inspector Kosaka said to a very silent Kotori Minami, “The system judged him, he was already dead at that point, there was no going back.”  
“But I…”  
“I’m not asking you to take it lightly. Just know that you probably saved more people from getting hurt by this copy-cat. Take a few days to get yourself together. Continue your training. It always makes me feel better.” Kosaka said her mind flashing a very personal interaction with Tsubasa Kira for her.

She quickly turned around to let the blush face.

“I need a shower.” Rin said, “And new clothes. Yuck!”

Now that the body of the woman had been collected and the apartment searched and sealed, all they could do was to go back to HQ.

* * *

_The explosion was violent, lasting forever but over in a second. She heard the gurgling as air was pressed passed the contracting windpipe, beset on all sides by expanding tissue.  
It became hard to breathe, her chest felt tight. She looked down and saw bubbles forming, tensing the skin. They moved upwards, towards her face. She screamed._

She woke up, looking into Umi’s concerned eyes.

“Nightmare?” she asked.

Kotori nodded.

“About today? Your first eliminator?”

Kotori nodded again.

“What if it was wrong? Is it really right? She won’t come back. He could have been saved…”

Umi shook her head.

“We have to trust that it is right, when we get the order. BUT, it is important to question and to feel afterwards. Every time. If we cannot justify it for ourselves, don’t pull the trigger. If you do it, just because you don’t care or just follow the command like a machine, then you’re not right for the job.”

Umi held Kotori tight.

“You did good. Even if you don’t think so, you did a judgement call, you actively thought about it. Never stop with that, my dear. Never stop to feel.”

Soft lips kissed Kotori’s nightmare away.


	11. A desperate creature

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A cornered animal strikes.

Eli brooded over the reports from Minami and Hoshizora. By all standards, they had done the job well, despite Kotori’s initial hesitation. Rin’s prowess in defensive martial arts had given her the means to avoid any serious injury and the subsequent elimination of the subject, with the splatter associated had only briefly elevated her stress, showing that she wasn’t used to it, but had better mechanisms in place to handle them.

“You know, you should not frown too much, might scare people away.” The voice of Nozomi interrupted her thoughts. Eli ignored it.

She read on, trying to find any sense in the forensic report. The murder had been sloppy, almost careless, the victim just a mid-level clerk. No one important. Purely random. She looked at a picture from the personnel file.

“I wouldn’t mind having met her in a dark alley. In fact, I wouldn’t mind meeting you in one.”

Eli tried to shut her out.

“Poor woman. I don’t want to image what she felt. Such a vile…”  
“Do you have a point?” Eli asked, upset.  
“Only that I would not want that on anyone.”  
“It’s the ultimate power trip for someone like him.” Eli countered.  
“That’s a bit cold.”

Eli was trying her hardest to remain calm.

“It must have been agony.” Nozomi added.

_What is she trying to do…_

“I mean, imagine...” Nozomi said.  
“ _STOP IT!_ ” Eli exclaimed.

Nozomi looked at her.

“What are you trying to do? You want my job so bad? Send me back to the cage?”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“You… you… You’re trying to…”  
“I’m trying what?

Eli suddenly stood up and walked in rapid pace out of the office.

“Eli? Wait!” Nozomi followed her. Nico, looked up and took her earphones out, seeing the inspectors leave.

“Huh?”, she thought aloud.

Eli walked at a clip towards the elevator.

“What am I trying to do Eli? Tell me!” Nozomi had almost caught up.  
“You're trying to get me over the edge. It’s plain to see.”  
“What? No. I want to help you, but you’re so stubborn I can’t, and it frustrates me.”

Eli suddenly stopped and faced her.

“You know what? I wish it were that simple. To ask for help. But it isn’t. Not for me. I know I’m prideful. I got myself out of the cage and I’m scared to go back. And… and… whenever I dream, I see you. And I’m happy, but then I see you here and I know that what I dream, and you are not the same, and it upsets me to no end. Just leave me alone.” Eli turned and continued, the elevator just a few steps away.

Arriving she vigorously pressed the call button but stopped when she felt a presence behind her. Turning, Nozomi’s greens bored into her.

“Tell me what we do in the dream.”  
“No.”  
“Please.”  
“No. Stop it!” Eli exclaimed as Nozomi moved closer.

Eli began to turn away when a hand slammed into the door next to her.

“Tell me why you dream of me, you know it don’t you.”  
“No I…”  
“A truth you won’t admit.”  
“No.”  
“You must tell me.”  
“What are you? A magician?”  
“Tell me.”

Another hand extended and Eli was completely caught, escape only possible through violence. Nozomi’s face came closer. Something inside Eli went _snap_.

“Fine. You want to know why? This is why! I want to take you home to my bed and just fuck the world away. I want to forget everything, all the control and just _feel!_ And I am so scared I’ll just use you and toss you aside or that you will do the same to me. _Get it?!?”_ and Eli grabbed hold of Nozomi and pulled her in, sealing the yelp of surprise and any reply with her lips.

It was a desperate move be a cornered creature. A way to reverse the roles of the hunter and the prey. She was pulling Nozomi closer and felt Nozomi’s hand caressing her cheek.

Then the elevator doors opened, the sudden disappearance of her support made Eli tumble backwards into the chamber. Nozomi’s support for her hands now gone as well, made her nearly fall into the elevator on top of Eli, but she managed to balance herself at the last second.

Eli scrambled into a corner; eyes wide with fear.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry… I’m sorry”, was the only phrase she could articulate.

Nozomi looked phased, she was still trying to process what had happened. She said something to the elevator controls, then slowly walked over and knelt in front of Eli.

“I’m not.”, and she cupped Eli’s chin as she moved closer.

Eli didn’t even register the elevator moving. All she felt was the softness of Nozomi’s lips on hers. As she released the contact Nozomi looked straight at Eli, pupils dilated.

She asked: “Did you mean what you said? ” There was no point to deny it.

“Yes.” Eli gasped, wanting more contact, reaching.  
“Then come.”

Nozomi stood up, offering her hand to Eli, pulling her up. Nozomi led her purposefully through the corridors up to a door. She turned to Eli.

“This room is sound- and video proof. We’ll be completely alone. No monitoring. Do you understand?”

Eli nodded. Her body was on fire, she would accept anything Nozomi said.

Nozomi opened the door. Eli glanced a spartan room with a couch and a bed.

“Last chance to turn away.”

Nozomi was panting. Eli’s body was screaming for release. Eli pushed Nozmi into the room, kissing her needingly and kicked the door shut behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started working... and I've been what called "gräsänkling" during the week so I've been working in the evenings too. Bit too much pride in actually figuring a more or less completely new syntax out and applying it. I'm not a developer so OOP is jsut hokus pokus for me.


	12. Awakenings and partings

Sleep slowly escaped from Eli, being replaced by a warm, almost fuzzy feeling. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Nozomi’s head slowly rising and falling as it was lying on Eli’s chest.

“If only this were real.” She muttered.  
“This is real Eli.” Nozomi replied, turning her head to face Eli.

Eli immediately let out a yelp and tried to escape, her mind confused. Nozomi, however, held on to her. When Eli was still again, she extended her hand and cupped Eli’s chin.

“And a good morning to you too.” Nozomi said playfully and kissed Eli.

The memories of yesterday started up flood back into Eli’s mind. The fire she’d felt, the desire to screw away the world, the fullness of Nozomi’s embrace. After the door had locked, she had roughly and efficiently stripped Nozomi, and had laid her down while Eli was removing her own clothes, kissing, licking, sucking, biting and feeling every inch and every place Nozomi’s body could offer. With her own clothes gone, the room had turned into a warzone of lust, with them both surveying and giving initiative to dominate the battlefield. Even after several hours, no victor had emerged, and they had both succumb to sleep holding each other close.

“Nozomi, I…” Eli began, but a finger on her lips stopped her from speaking.  
“I don’t regret it. I wanted this, you needed it. It all worked out fine.”

Eli couldn’t speak. Nozomi raised herself up, the blanked falling off her form as Eli stared.

“Someone likes what they see.” Nozomi chuckled, “There is a shower and I think I need to freshen up, as do you.” She pulled Eli with her.

“And I wouldn’t mind the company.” Nozomi said as she playfully pulled Eli’s hand to her mouth and gently bit it. A soft whine escaped Eli’s lips.

* * *

Tsubasa Kira opened her eyes, slowly adjusting to the sunlight that was coming in through her bedroom window. Next to her, a mop of orange hair moved softly with the breathing of its owner, Honoka Kosaka.  
For several nights, Kosaka had uninvited, but not unwelcomed, come to Tsubasa’s flat, sometimes to just talk, to sleep, to forget her day in the throngs of Tsubasa’s bed. During their conversations, Tsubasa had been enthralled by the way that Honoka was able to stay positive and in most respects, happy, when her work had presented her with the horrors of humanity. This woman, this… orange top of energy was really starting to grow on her. She didn’t just show Tsubasa things she’d never seen before, at least, not like this, but she genuinely cared, always asking Tsubasa first, taking nothing for granted, only taking what was offered and returning it ten-fold.  
Even after she left, Tsubasa would find notes of her scent, giggle at the memory of a common situation. Simply long to see her inspector again.  
Was this what falling in love was? For she understood that the border of friendship had passed long ago and the train had kept on going. She remembered the girl in the shed, she had liked her too, but only afterwards had the display been complete. Now she was in the middle of it constantly and didn’t have to do anything. She was surrounded by it… and she felt… happy.  
But at the same time as she revelled in an ocean of blue and orange, the reality of what their future looked like, _smelled like_ , impacted like a steamroller, mercilessly pushing her down into the darkness she had created for herself. She knew _why_ she had sought out Honoka, she knew _what_ would happen, she knew it would not last and that she’d be left behind, alone again until the next came along.  
Honoka began to stir.

_Can I be redeemed?_

“Good morning, sleepy head.” Tsubasa said in a sing-song voice as she lightly stroked Honoka’s hair.

_My dear._

* * *

_Something is up with her._

Honoka couldn’t say that she knew Tsubasa very well, but she did know that she’d taken quite a shine to her. Her flawless elegance, those marvellous green eyes, the way she carried herself, her body… and her mind. Sharp like an ice-pick and as clear a summer’s day. Tsubasa was…. special to Honoka. So she picked up immediately when Tsubasa’s mood shifted registers from happy to sad and from elated to frustrated. Something was clearly amiss. Tsubasa was trying her best to hide it, but to the trained eye of Inspector Kosaka, she might as well have been carrying placards.  
After a lazy morning, spent too long in bed and in the shower, they had agreed to go for a date in the vicinity of the MWPSB since Honoka had the nightshift and needed to report in later. All throughout Honoka had noticed the changes in moods, but hadn’t been able to figure out what was causing them. A smile to her could turn into a frown or a neutral gaze when Tsubasa thought Honoka wasn’t looking.  
They now sat at the café where they had had their first _date_ if it had been one then. Their order had just been delivered. Tsubasa poked with mild interest at her confection.

“Tsubasa?”  
“Mhm?”  
“What’s bothering you?”

Tsubasa looked up.

“What?”  
“I can see you; you know.”  
“And what does the amazing _Inspector_ Kosaka see?”  
“No need for that.” Honoka smiled, “I just noticed that you smile and then look sad the next second. Why? Is there anything I can do?”

_You can. But I don’t want you to._

“It’s nothing really.”  
“You know you can tell me.”  
“It’s nothing.”  
“If it nothing it’s something” Honoka sing-sang.

_No._

Tsubasa stood up and put her hands on the table.

“ _IT’S NOTHING. JUST DROP IT, OK?”_

Honoka looked at her wide-eyed.

“Tsu…tsubasa… I… I’m sorry I…”

Tsubasa’s expression dropped.

_What did I just do?_

”No, I… I…” she turned and said, “I don’t want to see you anymore. Farewell.”

And Tsubasa ran leaving a stunned Honoka behind.

_What just happened?_

_I can’t do this…_


	13. A thousand irons

Three robed grey figures floated in the void.

“It happens tonight.” said the first one, “she will come and then we catch her.”  
“What about the com-unit? Won’t it detect that she’s unconscious?” said the third.  
“She’ll be traceable until we put her in the van. So we better hurry.” said the second.

_What am I doing?_

“I’ve shielded the location. No one will disturb us.” Said the second.  
“Good. I can’t wait.” The glee was apparent in the third voice.

“She’ll come. I know she will” said the first.  
“After that scene, I would be surprised she hasn’t already.” Said the second.  
“What?”  
“A very convincing outburst, she’ll be compelled to patch things up.”  
“How do you…”  
“We saw it.” injected the third.  
“You were following me?”  
“We needed to make sure” said the second.  
“You were so hesitant.” said the third.

“Don’t ever do that again.”  
“I don’t think we’ll need to.” Said the second, the sneer behind the mask almost visible through it.

* * *

_I have to patch things up, I have too…_

Inspector Honoka Kosaka had drudged through her shift with less energy than usual, her fight with Tsubasa just before fresh in her mind. Why had she been in such a mood? What had Honoka done wrong?  
Thankfully, her shift was eventless, time passed slowly but steadily until she was done. She quickly excuse herself and left, heading to Tsubasa’s building. Looking up at the structure, she took a few breaths and stepped forward. She felt a small sting, maybe from an insect, on the back of her neck.

_Nerves._

She opened the door with her MWPSB ID and walked in.

* * *

“Open up. Please. I need to talk to you.”

There was no reply.

“Please I don’t want it to end like this.”

Honoka had been outside Tsubasa’s door for a few minutes, trying to resist the urge to flash her badge at the door and engage the MWPSB override. She was feeling warm, desperate, to right whatever wrong she had committed, be it true or not.

“Hello Inspector.” a foreign voice said behind her.

Honaka turned, but for some reason, almost fell to the ground. She use the wall as support and looked into a grey-hooded figure, wearing a grey mask, light, turquoise eyes, fixed on her.

“Who… who are you?” Honoka asked, her words unsteady.  
“I’m grey.”  
“Who?” Honoka’s eyes grew heavy.  
“It doesn’t matter, Inspector.”  
“Good night.” Said another voice.

Honoka tried to reach for her wrist-com, but her hand was easily caught. Seconds later she collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

As consciousness slowly returned to Honoka, she noticed that she couldn’t move. Short impulses of movement to her arms and legs went unanswered, the muscles sending impulses of complaint at their lack of mobility. She did feel moisture on her leg, what was it? Rain? Through her closed eyes she noticed that wherever she was, it was very bright. She slowly and carefully opened her eyes, adjusting to the brightness.

“Good evening Inspector.” Said a voice, it sounded familiar. Honoka tried and failed to turn her head.  
“Who… are you?”

“But inspector… how about a little game? If I do this… Honoka felt a sharp pain on her shoulder, a moist sensation followed, “who do you think we are?”

_We?_

Two more figured approached, dressed in grey cloaks with grey masks.

“Do you see it? The crescendo on her shoulder… it’s… magnificent.”

Honoka was beginning to understand.

“You can only see colour when there is blood right?”  
“Huh? My my…” said another voice, “You are correct. Let’s see what this does…”

There was another sharp pain, this time from the top of her hand.

“Glorious. Scream if you want, no one will hear.”

_It’s them. Hope the tracker works_

“Oh and, we’re shielded from any networks here. No one knows you’re here.”

_No…._

“Now let’s see what you can show us…”

* * *

The passage of time didn’t matter anymore. Her aching muscles didn’t matter anymore. Nothing did. She felt as if hundreds of small hot irons had poked her on every inch of her skin. But there was no pain.  
Not anymore.  
She had screamed, she had cried, she had begged for it to stop, when suddenly, she felt nothing save for pity for her assailants. For the life they must have led and would still lead, when she was gone. And she felt pity and dread for the one that would have to take her place in the future, indeed for anyone who would. These people needed help, not anger. So she’d tried to talk to them until the energy literally, flowed out of her.  
She knew she had precious little time left.

“Tsubasa, I’m sorry.” She whispered into the ground.

One of the grey figured approached, she could just see the cloak billowing through her vision. Her head was lifted up by a hand placed under her chin. So warm and gentle. Honoka found herself face-to-mask with the shortest of the three who’d kept mostly in the background for most of the _procedure_. Green intense eyes looked into Honoka’s blues.

_I’ve seen these…_

The person took of the mask, Tsubasa’s face wearing regret as another mask.

“I’m sorry too Honoka.“ she said, “Please forgive me.”

She lowered a scalpel from above so Honoka could see it. She felt pressure and a burn on her throat.

“I do.” Honoka closed her eyes.


	14. The birth of revenge

There is no sound when a knife or any sharp object slashes through the air. In order for that to happen then knife would have to be electrified to a point where holding it would be potentially lethal.

Honoka felt no pain. Her own defences had long ago seen to that. It had been the only way for the body to cope, to hold out. To wait. What she felt all over her body was stickiness and moisture. She felt it on her cheeks.

_Strange, I thought it was my throat._

Tsubasa was efficient at what she did. Want not, waste not. Keep every drop, writhe in the sensation, Treasure the fleeting time you have.

Do what you must and what she had to do, was dance.

Her steps, like the implement in her hand, danced the ballet of death. Shrieks and groans its rhythm, ripping its melody. She danced around the room in precise measured steps, stopping just enough times to express her feelings to her audience, to convey what she felt. In just a few seconds it was over, the thump of a heavy door the final beat, the echo of steps its final chorus.

Honoka felt her head being lifted again, this time a warm embrace enveloped her cheeks. She slowly opened her eyes to see Tsubasa filling her whole vision, eyes already closed.  
The kiss was soft, tender, loving. Any words of anger, sadness and loss were instantly soothed and left behind was just one feeling. Honoka felt confused, was she been given last rites before the end? A final gesture of love, only to left to wander the lone dark?  
The kiss ended, Tsubasa receded and opened her eyes.

“Tsubasa… why…”  
“Let me get you down first….”

There were cuts, Honoka felt her body shift, then suddenly she fell only to be caught before she hit the ground.

“Honoka.” Tsubasa voice was level, “I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?”  
“I don’t think…. there is… anything else I can do…” Honoka’s tired voice replied looking up at Tsubasa’s face.  
“Listen…. I’m… in love with you. And I’m a monster, I have done terrible things. We’re on opposite sides, bound to hunt and escape each other. Please believe me when I tell you I treasured each moment I had with you. This here…” she looked around, “is never what I wanted for you, but I am guilty of it.”  
“But you…” Honoka tried to stretch her hand to touch Tsubasa’s face, “saved me in the end.”  
“I can never atone… I… I… am a monster, a freak.”  
“No…”  
“The MWPSB will be here soon, if they aren’t already.”

Still gently holding Honoka, she took of her cloak.

“I have to go. I’m so sorry. Here.” She stood up, putting the cloak under Honoka’s head. Kneeling, she kissed her again.  
“I will never forget you. Good bye.”  
“Tsubasa… no….” she reached for the shadow as it disappeared through the door.

For a time she heard nothing, then steps came closer.

“Honoka?”  
“Inspector?”  
“Say something...”  
“Are you here?”

A flash of blonde appeared at the door, and Honoka closed her eyes again.

* * *

Rin ran through the maze of garbage, pipes and boxes, her target just a few steps ahead.

“Stop!” she shouted only to be met with a tossed garbage bag flying in her direction. She quickly dodged under it. Coming up on a straight section she knelt down and aimed her dominator.

“ _Crime coefficient under 50. Enforcement action not required. Trigger will remain locked_ ”

_What? Running away, tossing stuff my way, got to be a 110 at least. Stupid tech._

Rin tossed the gun aside and continued running. She weaved through the detritus the figure in the cloak was throwing her way. She was seeing that her target was nearing the end of her, for it had to be a her with that movement, stamina reserves. Rin would simply have to do it the old fashioned way. On they went, climbing higher on the exposed ladders and staircases, until there was no place more to run.  
The person in the cloak faced her, mauve eyes shining through the mask.

“No place left to go. Come with me and you won’t get hurt.” Rin said.  
“No way.” A sliver of silver flew through the air, Rin dodged it. It clangoured on the ground behind her.

Momentarily distracted, the figure struck out against Rin, another short knife in her hand. The danced around each other, Rin dodging the stabs and slashes that cut the air where she had stood just moments earlier. Round and round it went, insults permeating the air. The attacker lunged again, this time throwing her whole body instead of just the arm ahead and collided with Rin, knocking them both off-balance. The edge of the roof top came ever closer at they struggled on the floor, Rin barely avoiding the sharp weapon. Rin vaulted up, her attacker following suit, but she hadn’t counted on the knife that she’d thrown earlier. She lost her footing and fell backward towards the edge. Rin jumped, barley catching the free hand.

“Got ya. Hold on, I’ll get you up.”

The mask had come undone in the fighting and was now slowly falling to the ground below. Strands of auburn hair fenced the face. A maniacal grin spreading across the lips. The woman slashed with her free hand. Rin felt a sharp pain followed by numbness in her hand, she couldn’t hold on. She tried to catch the attacker’s free arm with her other hand, but the movements were too quick. The woman laughed a laugh that was bereft of sanity. The blood flowing from the wound and her increasing numbness made her hand slip. Still laughing the attacker fell. A sickening thud sounded as the body hit the ground. Rin could see the body heaving for breath then finally becoming still, eyes upturned at the falling rain.

* * *

She saw her fall. A loudless scream echoed in her mind as all she could do was to see her love fall and impact the ground. _She_ had killed her; _she_ had tried to kill both of them. _She_ would pay.


	15. Circles on a line

A robed grey figure floated in the void.

It had been waiting. It knew that this was the only meeting place, the only common ground they had, their homes now virtual cinder for they might just as well be burnt down, for they could never return.

It kept waiting. Time passed just as in the real world, but in a sense, it was more rapid. Movement here was in straight lines, predicable. It was controlled.  
It was everything that the situation was not.

Another robed figure materialized.

“ _YOU_!” it screamed and threw itself at her and bounced off an invisible barrier.

“That doesn’t work here, you know that.”  
“Doesn’t matter, felt good.”  
“I knew you’d come”  
“I figured you’d be here.”

“Look about what happened…”  
“ _You killed her!_ ”

“What?”  
“ _You_ … “ a finger pointed menacingly, _killed_ … _her_. She was all it had, the only one…. And you _killed_ her.”  
“What are you talking about, I never cut…”  
“But you did! When she fell… I saw it… she fell…” sobs came, “she fell to the ground and died… alone. I couldn’t get to her in time.”  
“But I…”  
“ _You_ killed _her_.” The second said quietly.

She had tried to kill them, for it was the only way that it would stop, but they had both run away.

“I didn’t. I couldn’t have.”  
“YOU STARTED THIS… you brought us together… you made us whole… and now… now she’s dead… if it wasn’t for you… she’d still be alive. She’d be with me…”  
“I _didn’t_ _kill her_.”

The other cloaked figured circled her.

“I will find where you hide… and I will kill you… slowly. You will beg and I will not listen. I will prolong it as long as I can. _You will suffer._ ”

And the cloak was gone.

* * *

“How is she?” Eli asked, Nozomi standing next to her as Maki and a med-tech came out of Kosaka’s room in the medical wing.

“She…”, the both started, Maki shot the tech and angry look and he nodded at her to continue.

“It’s not pretty, there is almost no area of her body that doesn’t have cuts, either superficial or deeper. Her body probably went into chock pretty early and they had to dig deeper to extract any reaction. The only places where there are no direct wounds are at the major arteries. So, this was them, I have no doubt.  
The restraining marks are consistent with what we saw at the scene. I don’t think she got out of them by herself, she wouldn’t have been able to. She’s in good condition, so she will heal, but… I’m worried about her Psycho-Pass. With that amount of mental trauma, I wonder if she will recover from it. Maybe you “ Maki pointed at Nozomi, “should talk to her, help her through it.  
The room also seemed to be shielded, but somehow her wrist-com was outside and transmitting the tracking signal. She couldn’t have tossed it outside, so I don’t really know what to make of it.”

She looked back to the door.

“She’s asleep now, but she shouldn’t wake up alone. A familiar face, one of us, should be in there at all times. I’ll take a later shift. I need to get to the autopsy.”

“When will she wake up?” Nozomi asked.  
“No idea. It could be minutes; it could be hours.”  
“I’ll stay with her.” said Eli.  
“Good.” Said Maki and left them, walking in the direction of the morgue.

Nozomi, Eli and the med-tech looked at each other.

“I have to go too. We’re monitoring her, but apart from the blood loss, she physically fine. She needs time.” he left, almost seemingly on purpose walking in a different direction from Maki.

“Eli, I…”  
“We’ll talk later, ok?” Eli said, squeezing Nozomi’s hand, “I’ll call you when she wants to talk.”

Nozomi nodded.

“Go on Eli-chi. Be there for her.”

Eli opened the door and stepped inside.

* * *

The room was clean, sterile, bereft of any personality. The smell of cleaning alcohol and steel hung heavy in the air. Cabinets, readouts and audio/video pickups littered the room.  
Maki Nishikino looked at the body on the slab. It looked peaceful, at rest, the maniacal grin wiped from its face. It had been cleaned and any trace evidence logged by the med-drones. With just a few strips of cloth covering the more private areas.

“Shall we get started my dear?” Maki asked, putting on surgical gloves, “I’ll be gentle, nothing can hurt you anymore.”

She came closer and looked over the body.

_What did you do to yourself, just to feel something…_

She activated the recording equipment.

“This is Maki Nishikino, performing complimentary autopsy on subject Anju Yuki, 28. Subject cause of death has been determined as ground impact after a fall from a five-story building. Details of the circumstances can be read in the linked case report. The subject seems to have been in good health and living a non-excessive life by view of the toxicology report and the stomach contents, all attached to this report.  
It is suspected that the subject suffered from synaesthesia, though this cannot be proven with any post-mortem tests.  
There is a lot of scar tissue on the body in line with the previously recorded patterns from prior victims. While some seem to be self-inflicted, the scars on the back…” she turned the body, “were done by another individual. Theories range from a partner to disciplinary. As the others, the cuts are very precise but shallow in order to allow healing and no major blood loss or scarring.”

Maki turned the body completely over.

“The impact with the ground pulverized most of the spine, severing the spinal cord in three places. Death was probably not instantaneous as random nerve signals would have fired.” She gently stroked the hair and said in a soft voice, “That must have been horrible, but it’s over now.”

She turned the body back again.

“May you find the peace that life couldn’t give you.” said a different voice behind Maki, who turned around.

“Nico?”  
“That’s what you say, isn’t it? Sending their spirit a prayer?”  
“Yes, but how?”  
“I watched the autopsy you did of the first victim. Didn’t take you for a spiritual.”  
“I… I…” Maki blushed, “it’s nothing special.”  
“But it is, and it’s you.” Nico stepped closed, “And I like it.” she smiled at Maki, “and I had to confirm something for myself.”  
“Oh?”

Nico stepped up to the body.

“Hi Anju, been a while. I should thank you, but I can only wish you well now. I forgive you.”  
“Nico?”  
“When I saw the name in the report I had to check. Anju used to be… a rival of sorts.”  
“Oh?”  
“I’ll tell you about it sometime.” She stepped away, “I’ll leave you to it” and she left the room, leaving a somewhat confused Maki Nishikino behind.

* * *

Needles poked her hand. Rin Hoshizora looked on, feeling nothing, not even the pressure of the sharp point.

When she had described the symptoms to the medic, he had rushed her into a stability harness for her hand and rushed her to the medical wing.  
She’d been told that the nerves to her hand had been damaged so she was in danger of losing her feeling and fine motor skills in that hand. She’d been operated on repeatedly and now she was in recovery, having her hand poked by needles. And she couldn’t feel anything.

“Since you’re out of surgery quite recently this is probably nothing to worry about. The body is still working on finding alternate paths for the information to flow to your brain.”  
“How… how long?”

The surgeon sighed.

“It could be seconds; it could be months. Important is to keep using the hand, you still have control over it. So, by using your eyes to compensate you can still make full use of it, you just won’t be to certain of how hard or soft you grip something when you don’t observe it.”

_No… but Kayo-chin… I’m… I can’t feel her… I won’t be able to feel her with this hand… and it will feel like a dead fish…_

“… can sometimes kickstart it.” the surgeon concluded.  
“Again?” she asked.  
“Oh? I said Certain strong sensations can sometimes kickstart the connection again. Just like a computer… a good reboot is sometime necessary for the body.” He chuckled.

* * *

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.” Eli said.

Nozomi entered.

“Any change?”  
“No, she’s still asleep.”  
“Hmm…” she leant over to Eli’s ear.  
“We tranced back to where Honoka went after her shift and we found something. The apartment she went to is inhabited by a person with very green eyes that match Sonoda’s memory image.” She whispered.  
“We can search it?”  
“Got the go ahead a minute ago.”  
“I’ll take Nishikino, she should be done by now.”  
“Good.”

Eli stood up and offered the chair to Nozomi.

Carefully leaving Eli whispered: “Help her.”

Nozomi winked.

* * *

Getting into the apartment had been easy. A wave of their MWPSB IDs allowed them access and they had entered, Dominators drawn, but it had been empty. A search of it had revealed a ordered life, a wiped computer and defaulted apartment AI, some drawers emptied, otherwise nothing had been disturbed. One surprise was the absence of personal items of decoration or accomplishments, except for one thing. When Maki had found it, she had called Eli over.

“Look at this. The only decoration in the entire place, so it’s important.”

Eli had looked at this item.

“This is a problem.”  
“Is it. I think it is an opportunity. And I also think it is an explanation.”  
“But she is involved.”  
“Indeed, maybe this time, it was too much.”  
“Bag it. We might need it.”

Make had held up a bag with her other gloved hand.

“Already prepared” and had proceeded to put the item into the evidence bag: a picture of inspector Honoka Kosaka, arm in arm with a green-eyed woman, Tsubasa Kira. Kira was kissing Kosaka on the cheek. Kosaka was smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To all those who love Anju... please forgive me. I couldn't keep them all alive. Someone has to start the circle of destruction.


	16. Feelings in a mirror

_Hello,_ she called into the empty void, _is anyone there?_

No response.

_Hey!_

Still silence.  
She looked around, she was standing/floating in a big white expanse, nothing giving away its scale or size. She felt heavy. The white clothing, she was wearing couldn’t be that heavy?

_Let’s see what’s over in… that direction._

Nothing changed, the light, the colour, or lack of it and silence all remained the same.

_Did I…?_

_No, you didn’t!_

A different ‘voice’ invaded her mind. She turned around, trying to pierce the veils.

_What? Who…?_

_Silly girl, don’t you remember?_ It said mockingly.

_Remember what?_

_Let me show you._

She suddenly felt a searing pain on her arm. Looking at it, a thin red line was forming, visible through the cloth as it absorbed the liquid. She quickly pulled away the sleeve to reveal a cut on her arm. It was bleeding.

_What did you do that for?_

_No cries for help?_ The voice mocked.

_It’s just a simple cut, but why did you do that?_

_Remember!_

More cuts appeared, each accompanied by the same pain. She winced as they came one after the other.

_Remember!_

She saw an image of herself strung up like a bird, three laughing figures slashing at her skin as blood splashed on the ground and on the figures. They kept laughing.

_No!_

The image disappeared.

_Oh, don’t like what you see?_

_No, they can’t help it. They want to but they can’t!_

Tears left her eyes.

_Do you really believe that?_

Another cut and blood started to trickle down her leg.

_Oh am I going to have fun with you…_

* * *

“What is it?”, Maki asked as she entered the room.  
“She’s crying.” Nico said.  
“What?”  
“Crying. Tears. She’s been tossing a bit too.”  
“What’s going on?” Nozomi’s voice asked as she entered.  
“Kosaka’s crying.”  
“What did you say?”  
“Nothing, I was here reading my pad.”

Maki quickly looked at the instruments.

“Her heart rate is slightly elevated, nothing dangerous, but, given these other readings, she’s stressed. “ she checked the readings again, “Oh my gods, shit! We have a problem.”

Both Nozomi and Nico looked at her.

“She’s clouding.”

* * *

A cut slashed Tsubasa, again and again. Honoka ran towards her, but she didn’t couldn’t get close enough. Tsubasa fell into a blooded heap. Honoka ran, she screamed.  
Tsubasa stood up, blood soaked, cuts all over her face, her green eyes shining like lanterns.

_It was you._

Honoka finally arrived, throwing herself at Tsubasa.

_What? What did I do?_

_You killed me!_

_No. No. you ran!_

_I died outside, blown to pieces by your guns!_

_No, they…_

_They don’t know, do they? That you were sleeping with the enemy._

_No… you’re not._

_But I am._

Tsubasa raised a knife and gently put it against Honoka’s throat.

_But Tsubasa… why?_

_Revenge! I want it… you want it. I know you do._

_No. I don’t. Never._

_You will._

And she was gone.

_Tsubasa! Don’t leave!_

* * *

“Should we wake her?”  
“Are you insane?” Nozomi said rather strongly. Realizing this, she bowed to Maki, “Sorry Maki.. that was uncalled for… but no we shouldn’t.”  
“But her hue?” asked Eli.  
“if we wake her now, “Nozomi explained, “getting hue under control will take more time and maybe even fail. Her mind is battling out the scenario, we need to wait and trust in her.”

Maki sighed, “Fine, but I’ll keep monitoring.”  
“I’ll stay too” said Nico.  
“Keep us updated. Eli? Let’s go.”

They left.

* * *

_They hurt you._

_Yes._

_They cut you._

_Yes._

_They were going to kill you._

_Yes._

_And what will you do?_

_What do you mean?_

_What will you do?_

_I don’t understand._

_What will you do?_

_I don’t understand!_

_What will you do?_

_I…_

_Well?_

_I will…_

_Yes?_

_I will… help them._

_NO! You will find them and kill them. Those three hurt you. They were going to kill you. You want their lives._

_I don’t…_

_But you do!_

_No, I…_

_You do._

_I… do?_

_Yes._

_I do?_

_Yes!_

_I… do._

_Yes._

_I’ll get them…_

_Yes._

_And I’ll kill them._

_Yes._

_But… no._

_What?_

_No._

_You will._

_NO!_

* * *

“She’s edging!” Maki said over the com.  
“How bad?” Nozomi’s voice was worried.  
“98. And she’s murky as all…”  
“Don’t wake her!”  
“But…”  
“She will make it.”

Maki was silent.

“I know what’s going on in her, the conflict. She’ll be ok.”

* * *

Hanayo was worried.  
Not about the inspector, she had all the feeds and knew what was going on, but for Rin. She’d seen her sit on her bed trying to catch a ball with her injured hand, frustration clear in her visage. Most times the ball landed in the hand, but the impulse to grab it came too late, the ball already on a different trajectory.

As she watched the monitors, she wondered what she could do, she had only basic medical training, and she wasn’t a neurosurgeon and prosthetics wouldn’t be a good replacement.  
The more she watched Rin, the more she felt that she had to take action, any action to help. The medical reports said that the damage had been healed, but that for some reason no signals seemed to be processed. She could see Rin becoming more and more agitated, poking her hand like it was something outside of her.

“ _Kayo-chin…_ ” she heard Rin whisper.

It wasn’t meant as a check if she was listening, Rin probably didn’t want her to hear it. Then the tears came. Rin broke down, her high-pitched whine of despair the only sound.  
Hanayo stood up, she was going to do something. But would that something help, or just further cement Rin’s feelings of self-deprivation?

* * *

Honoka sat in what felt like a puddle, small ripples streaking out from her, streaks of red dancing in the liquid.

_Why are you so stubborn?_

_Because I want to help them._

_They can’t be helped, they are lost, angry. Violent. They will hurt you again if they can, they will kill you when they want to._

_I know._

_Then why do you persist?_

_Someone has to. I believe the system is right, it put me here after all. But I also know that nothing is perfect. A person can kill, given the right motivation. But... a person can also heal. Heal those that can’t heal themselves._

_They will not thank you, they fear you. They… HATE you._

_I know. But I would still try._

_Are you certain?_

_Yes._

* * *

“I don’t get this, what the hell?”  
“What is it?” Nico asked.  
“She’s... she’s… clearing up” Maki said in wonder.

* * *

Hanayo Koizumi stood outside of Rin’s quarters, nervously extending her finger to the signal contact.

One press. No answer. She knew that Rin was awake and hadn’t left, so… why no answer?

She pressed it again and waited. And again. And again. Finally the speaker clicked.

“Yes?”  
“It’s Koizumi… ehh Hanayo. Can I come in please?”  
“Kayo-chin? Ehh.. ahh… now… is not a good time… I… am sick, yes.” Badly acted coughing filled the hallway.  
“Let me in please. I… I need to talk to you.”  
“I don’t feel well. I could be contagious.”  
“Rin… please let me in.” Hanayo said in the most soft voice she could manage.

After what felt like an eternity, the door clicked and swung open. Hanayo walked inside, surprised to Rin sitting on her bed, back turned towards her.

“I guess you heard?” she asked.  
“All reports, except the therapist records, are open within the group, so yes. I know.”  
“Then you know that, “ Rin turned around with red and puffed eyes, “I cannot feel anything with my right hand. Nothing. No heat, no cold… no needle… no ski… no nothing.”  
“I know.”  
“I... am broken… I’m not… I’m not…”  
“Stand up.”  
“What?”  
“Please stand up Rin!” Hanayo tried to sound as forcefully as she could.

Rin slowly stood up, entranced.

“Please close your eyes and extend your right hand.”  
“Buy Kayo-chin~~~”  
“Do it for me… please Rin.”

Rin closed her eyes and slowly extended her arm and hand.

“Please keep your eyes closed, promise.”

Hanayo acted quickly, she opened up her shirt slightly and took Rin’s hand and placed it on her chest.

“Do you feel this?”

Rin concentrated, she felt her wrist being held by Hanayo, but there was something else. A dull, grumbling feeling that was slowly spreading to her mind. _Thud._ There it was. _Thud._ And there again. Quicker. Faster. Stronger. And… there was heat. Fire, burning like sun on an open field, the sting of heat as the sun was caught on glass. But there was something else… softness. A blanket on a cold morning, a pillow for her beaten head. Comfort, safety, bliss.

“Do you feel it?”  
“yes... _Yes!_... but how?”  
“What do you feel?  
“I feel... a soft blanked, a fire and a rhythmic thumping. So hard and fast. It’s like I’m under a warm, soft blanket in the winter. And the thumping… it feel that I’m not alone. But wait… I can…. I can feel… I… I…” tears began to flow again.  
“Open your eyes Rin.”

Rin opened them slowly, having a hard time to process what she was seeing. Hanayo stood in front of her, blushing, one hand holding on to her arm and the other pushing her hand into Hanayo’s chest, just by the heart.

“This is how I feel about you. My heart beats so fast it almost leaps out of my chest. I get so warm, that any clothes feel constraining. And my skin wants to feel your touch. Please Rin. _Feel._ ”

The sensations were coming quicker now, like an avalanche of sensory information it flowed through the repaired nerve. It was overwhelming, it was too much. It was a kick.

“Kayo-chin…I….” Rin stammered.

Purposefully, Hanayo moved Rin’s hand lower. Rin’s eyes opened wide, the implication understood.

“I want to _feel you_ , and for you to _feel me._ ”

* * *

She was looking through a mirror, but a mirror in frame only. She could step through it as she wished, feeling all the emotions either side offered.

  
Happieness – Sadness  
Love – Hate  
Hopelessness – Hope  
It all lived in the same place, reflections on reflections…  
on reflections. And still:  
in the same  
place.

  
She was talking to herself. Tsubasa had never been here.

_I’ll go now._

_No. Don’t leave._

_I won’t. I will always be here, but I need to do something._

_Do you really think they can be saved?_

_I have to try. She saved me. She has feelings for me. I won’t ignore that._

_Because you do too?_

_I do._

_Then go. Go and save her, and at the end… we’ll talk again._

And Honoka Kosaka opened her eyes, again.


	17. Conversations in the void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly found evidence contains more than meets the eye.

_*chirp chirp*_

_*chirp chirp*_

_*chirp chirp*_

Hanayo Koizumi, analyst specializing in image and audio analysis ath the MWPSB, slowly opened her eyes, watching an unfamiliar ceiling above her. She felt light, warm, utterly relaxed.

_So, this is what it feels like. Amazing._

The embrace around her arm intensified slightly, a small groan escaping from the person that was holding on to her. As realisation slowly dawned on her, she felt at peace. This was good, this was… wonderful. She shifted slightly to be able to look at the carrot coloured hair of Rin and her golden-green coloured eyes, a soft smile spreading across their faces.

“Good morning Kayo-chin.”  
“Morning. How are you feeling?”  
“Like I’m reborn.”  
“I’m glad.”  
“And you.”  
“Wonderful.”

Hanayo rolled to face Rin directly and placed a kiss on the lips of her bed-mate.

“Happy?” Rin asked.  
“Beyond anything. You?”  
“You bet.”

_*chirp chirp*_

_*chirp chirp*_

_*chirp chirp*_

“I think you have to answer that. Or they’ll barge in.”

Hanayo sighed and pressed the audio only button.

“Koizumi, we have some new evidence for analysis, taken from the suspects home. A hardcopy.”, Eli Ayase’s voice said over the wrist-com.  
“I’ll be right there. Wait… did you say _hardcopy_?”  
“Yes.”  
“That’s unusual.” Rin said.  
“Who was that?”  
“Ehh.. I… was talking to Rin.. ehh.. Miss Hoshizora….”  
“I don’t care what you do, just don’t let it affect your work. We clear?”  
“Yes ma’am. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” A slightly deflated Hanayo replied.  
“Come talk to me after ok? Just over coffee. Please? And make that 10 minutes.” Ayase’s voice was softer.  
“Ok, I will.” And she closed the connection.

“I’m sorry Kayo-chin… I wasn’t thinking. I’ll take any blame.”  
“No blame. Just… can we stay like this... just a little longer? I need to go soon.”

* * *

Hanayo came into the AV lab with a sprint. Maki was already waiting for her.

“Here.” She held out the evidence bag, “this more your area than mine.”  
“Thank you”

She took the bag, equipped gloves and placed the picture on the scanning platform.

“She looks so happy.” Hanayo said aloud, “They both do.”  
“It’s an amazing feeling, being in love.” Maki eyed Hanayo, “Something happened? You’re, I don’t know, calmer than usual.”

A furious blush spread on Hanayo’s cheeks. Was she so transparent?

“It suits you. It’s nice.” Maki smiled, “I’m certain she feels the same.”  
“I… I hope so.”

Hanayo turned her attention to the scan result.

 _ANOMALY IN IMAGE DATA:_ Embedded Commu-field access found.

Do you want to connect? (Y/N)

Maki sat down on the other workstation.

“I’ll shadow you if you go in.”  
“I’m going.”

* * *

The void was without shape or form, suspended in a calming off-white light.

Hanayo looked around, there were no shapes, no markers. It was probably a private, isolated area.

_State your identity to unlock._

“RiceQueen.”

_Avatar identity not used.. Real name identity only._

“Hanayo Koizumi”

_Identity not approved for access._

And Hanayo was back, looking at the menu in her headset.

“You ok?” asked Maki worried, “You went out so fast.”  
“It doesn’t want to me to enter. But who can?”

Maki looked at the picture.

“Maybe her.” She said, pointing at the orange haired woman in the picture.

* * *

“She’s in no condition to do this.” Nozomi said.  
“But she is likely the only one who can.”  
“She just got out of a very serious trauma, relapses at this point are very dangerous and very likely.”  
“But you were fine with us not waking her.”  
“That was different, it was an internal struggle, now we’re introducing external stimuli. We have no idea what’s in that construct.”  
“Well I think, _Inspector_ , that it would be up to Kosaka to decide this, not you.”  
“Don’t you bring my rank into this. She says she’s fine. She doesn’t want any counselling, her Psycho Pass is clear and her crime coefficient is the lowest on record.”  
“And you don’t want to risk your reputation.”  
“That has nothing to do with it… I don’t want to see her hurt!”

Eli interrupted Maki’s and Nozomi’s argument.

“ _Enforcer Nishikino_ , stand down! You too Nozomi.”

Maki scoffed and turned around in frustration. Nozomi sighed.

“Maki… “Eli said in a milder voice, “do you believe that this private partition is only for her.”  
“Yes.”  
“Will she be in danger?”  
“I don’t think so.” Nozomi jeered, “ _BECAUSE_ the inspector is important to the suspect. She had a hardcopy, and had it altered so that only a physical scan would reveal the embedded information. Very unusual for our day and age. And though the image itself might be a rouse. I don’t think do. The suspect cares for the inspector. Maybe she wants to send a message. And it’s only for her.”  
“And we can’t impersonate her?”  
“Koizumi checked. The amount of back-checking done is unlike anything I’ve ever seen and there are fail safes if we try to fake the responses. Only she can do it.”

Eli turned to Nozomi.

“Is she in danger?”  
“We have no idea how this will affect her. She could go into psycho chock.”  
“ _Could_. Will she?”  
“I… “Nozomi resigned, “I don’t know…”  
“I see.”

Eli exhaled.

“I’ll ask her. It’s ultimately her decision.”

* * *

The void was without shape or form, suspended in a calming off-white light.

Honoka looked around, hearing Maki’s voice in her inner thoughts.

“This is what we saw last time, then you will be asked for your identity. Answer with your real name. If we’re correct you will get access.”  
“Ok, I’ll do that.”

_State your identity to unlock._

“Honoka Kosaka”

_Identity approved for access. Please stand-by for transfer._

Honoka’s vision suddenly blurred and she found herself in a new virtual space.

“What happened? We lost you. I think we can still hear you, but everything else is blocked.”  
“It’s ok. I’m fine.”

The space was as empty as the previous one, but the light was… warmer somehow.

Suddenly a new avatar appeared, it looked like… a chibi version of Tsubasa.

“Tsu—Tsubasa.”

“Welcome Honoka, I’m glad the picture I left behind and that you’re able to come here. I am not personally here right now; I need to keep moving so I can’t be online all the time. I created this virtual assistant to answer most of your questions. If you interact with it, I will know and maybe I’ll be able to communicate with you later.

Before this VA will answer any questions, there is something I need to say:

I meant what I said back there, and I feel terrible about what the others and myself put you through. I tried to push away how I felt, make it just like everyone else, but I couldn’t. My feelings for you are too strong. I hope that, in some way, I can atone.

This VA will now answer questions.”

_Easy one first._

“Do you know who I am?”  
“According to my checks and biometric verifications you are the real Honoka Kosaka. Currently serving at the MWPSB. Rank Inspector. Two citations for valour, one reprimand for tardiness in the line of duty. Your assault course score is…”  
“Ok, that’s enough.”  
“Of course.”  
“Where are you right now?”  
“I am located in several different servers across the world that coalesce to form a complete entity. Up to four instances can be knocked out without a loss in fidelity.”  
“Not you. Where is Tsubasa Kira?”  
“On the move.”  
“Where exactly is she right now.”  
“I’m not programmed with that information.”

_Computers…_

“Why did you save me?”  
“I’m in love with you.” The avatar became livelier, “After what I did, I understand if you don’t share the feeling, but that’s why. I tried so hard to push that away, to make you into another target, but I just couldn’t. You showed me things I had never before seen possible. A world of colour and life instead of the grey world I inhabit.”  
“What do you mean with grey world?”  
“I can’t really explain it, but I can’t see colour, except when that sensation is somehow triggered by an external stimulus. Now that I think about it, I was probably always a monster, the only way I could see colour was by taking life. But nothing lived forever, so I had to find it again and again. I found likeminded ones… and well... you know what happened.”  
“How can you avoid the scanners?”  
“As a side-effect, my Psycho-Pass is always around 50 with a clear hue. They ignore me.”  
“Do you really love me?”  
“Yes I do.”  
“Won’t you come in?”  
“I’m sorry I can’t do that. I have something I need to do.”  
“What do you need to do?”

The avatar stood still, mouth open.

“Hello? What happened? VA?”

The avatar disappeared, the reappeared, staticed out, then came back.

“Honoka? Is… is that really you?” The avatars whole disposition and projecting was different.  
“Tsubasa? Not the VA?”  
“Yes, It’s me. I’m moving about so I drop in here every now and then. I… I was hoping I’d find you here. I tried to leave enough traces so they would find my place, and the picture.”  
“About that... I can figure out when it was taken, but by whom?”  
“I had a drone follow us around that day. I gave it some parameters but could also trigger it when needed. I... really wanted a picture of you. Even if it was something I would look at and cry myself to sleep holding.”  
“Tsubasa…”  
“Please let me finish. What I did to you... what I did to all those others… it is something that can never be forgiven. And I know that. I know it’s not fair, me burdening you with my feelings, but I... I didn’t know what to do anymore. I’m trying to do right now… at least make sure it doesn’t happen again.”  
“W—what are you doing?”  
“I’m trying to find the other one. I learned that one of the others is dead. Fell off a roof. When the other one is dead, there is only me left.”  
“What will you do then?”  
“I.. I will ask you to end it.”  
“What? No, I can’t.”  
“I’ll make sure that you’ll have a weapon that will work. I already know that anything that Sybil taps into doesn’t work on me.”  
“But.. Tsubasa…”  
“No buts my dear inspector. You need to save the place from bad people like me.”

The avatar smiled. Honoka shook her head.

“No, because I feel like that for you too. I love you. And I want to save you. I want to save everyone.”

For several cycles the avatar was motionless.

“I’m not worth saving, none of us are.”  
“You are to me, won’t you let me try?”

The avatar chuckled.

“You know, that’s one thing I really like about you.”  
“Huh? What?”  
“You see the good in everything. Silly girl.” Another smile, “even for me. I need to go. I hope that we can talk again soon and that I can tell you that it’s all over. Good bye my love.”

The session terminated. Honoka closed her eyes inside the headset.

_I will save you!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steganography is the art or practise of concealing information in something else, be it pictures, text or speech. In modern image processing this is mostly used for digital watermarks to preserve an image's copyright.
> 
> The art was first given the name in the late 1400s. Not to be confused with stenography wich is the art of short-hand writing.


	18. Tracked prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanayo picks up the trail, Umi is hurt and Nico tells her piece.

“I have her”, said Hanayo from her hunched position over the keyboard.

She tapped a couple of keys and a wall in the tech room lit up, displaying multiple video feeds showing the interior and exterior of a VR café. A cloaked figure exited looked around and merged into the flow of pedestrians, the cameras not displaying as much as a blip.

“That’s her.” Honoka said, “and the scanners don’t pay her any second thought. Where is this?”  
“Ota.”  
“Hmm.. can you get the cameras to follow her on based on a few criteria?”  
“I.. I think so. But I’ll need someone to help me.”  
“I’ll help”, Rin said, eliciting a smile from the analyst.  
“I’ll stay too.” Nico nodded casting a look to Maki who nodded.  
“What parameters?”  
“Clear hue only and if there is a crime coefficient scan, not over 60”  
“But... that would mean most of the population…”  
“And the visual cues that Yazawa and Hoshizora can provide.”

Honoka sagged a little.

“I think I… need to sit down. Over there.”  
“Like hell you will. Nozomi, please see that Inspector Kosaka gets back to bed… and stays there.” Eli shot a warning glance at Honoka.  
“Ay aye boss.” Nozomi teased and led Honoka away.  
“I’m going. Sonoda, you’re with me.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”

* * *

She filtered through the crowds, her mind apart from them. She looked at the cameras and scanners that dotted the posts around her.

_Are you watching?_

A part of her wished that somewhere in the city an orange haired woman with blue eyes would be watching her, watching over her like a guardian angel so that she could do what needed to be done and then grant her a final good-bye. The thought brought both sadness and joy, she had finally found someone, without looking, that had changed her, led her away from being the monster that killed for a few minutes of pleasure to a person of remorse and guilt, but at the same time, happy for the change and its catalyst.

_Where are you? Where would you go? Home is no longer safe, but where else would she go?_

She tried to remember all the places that she, Anju and Erena had used as temporary stopovers after each _session_. Would she be waiting be one of those? Or would she roam, trying to anticipate her actions, convinced that she was to blame for Anju’s fall? In either case, the bright lights of the city, once something she shunned would now become her best friends, keeping her safer than the darkness of hidden alleys. Here she would see her coming, here, she would disappear in the mass that was the general populous. She would be hidden, standing in the light, until the end.

Tsubasa didn’t notice that some of the cameras she passed under tracked her, they never had before so why would they now. But they did.

* * *

The tall woman with long violet hair looked around the empty flat.

_She hasn’t been here either, where is she? My sweet, why are you not here to help me?_

Perhaps her quarry was deliberately keeping away from their old hideaways, making the assumption that safety wasn’t to be found there. And she would be correct. The tall woman felt the heaviness of the knife in her pocket.

_I’m going to cut you up, just like you taught me, I will keep you alive and begging. You will bleed for her, for my love. And you will suffer!_

She continued her patrol, sooner or later her former ally would have to rest, then she found find her and strike.

* * *

“Taiko 4, central. Any location updates?”  
“Two blocks up, she went into the mall on your right side, currently walking through the lower level.”  
“Understood, Taiko 4 out.”

“Taiko 4?”  
“Here. Hold when you get to the mall. She might just be using it as a shield, and we can’t fire with all the civilians. Area stress would go through the roof.”  
“Understood” Umi looked to the other side of the street, caught Eli’s eye and nodded. They advanced.

They had arrived a few minutes ago, trying to get as close to Tsubasa Kira’s position as they had been able to track her. Kosaka’s parameters had narrowed it down, but Hoshizora and Yazawa still needed to make visual confirmations, since the scanners were next to useless.

But it was a slow process, by the time they arrived at the last spotted location, their target had already moved on in a secret game of cat and mouse where the mouse didn’t know it was being chased but held all the advantages.

When they arrived at the mall they knew that their mark probably was halfway across the complex, their near constant updates guiding them closer.

“Inspector, I have eyes on a grey cloak, similar to the one we saw in the commu-field, however, the person wearing it is taller than our target.”  
“Control, can you confirm?”

Yazawa’s voice broke in.

“Confirmed. Could be the third?”  
“Any sign of the primary?”  
“Still in the mall I think, we haven’t seen her exit, but there are a lot of exits to cover.”

A different voice spoke.

“Can you get ahead of her and walk towards her so you can see her face?”  
“Inspector Kosaka? Shouldn’t you…”  
“Never mind that. You can give me the hair and eye colour; we can narrow it down.”

Umi looked to Eli, who shrugged.

“Confirmed, I’ll try to pass her, then double back.”

Umi hurried off to intercept. She quickly maneuvered, keeping the cloak in sight, so that she would come on the same path some distance ahead in order not to act too suspiciously. Her plan worked, she came out of a side lane in the mall about three shops ahead, then walked slowly back while pretending to read things on her wrist-com. When she had put enough distance between them, she turned around and started to follow.

“Deeper emerald eye colour and violet hair.” She said into her ear-piece, she heard a gasp on the line.  
“It’s her… the third.”  
“Understood. Inspector Ayase, do we apprehend?”  
“Too many people, try to detain her quietly.”  
“Understood.”

Um I increased her pace until she was a quarter step behind the woman.

“Public Security, please come with me.” She said in as level a voice she could.

The woman’s head turned around, saw Umi, looked the other way, then bolted. Umi perused.

“Giving… chase… lock down… requested.”  
“On it.” she heard Ayase say.

The woman was clearly in good shape as she zigged and zagged through the crowds, but eventually the crowds ran out and she began to turn into the smaller alleys. As Um was running she took out her dominator out of its holster, waiting for the opportune moment to level it at her target. The woman tossed something ahead of her and ran past it, Umi managed to see something glistening in her direction and dived to the side. The sharpened tips flew past her, say one that embedded itself in her shoulder, more or less ignoring Umi’s vest. The pain was bad, but she shoved it aside, instead raising her Dominator.

“ _The target’s crime coefficient is 51. No enforcement action is required. Trigger will remain locked.”_ Her gun told her.

_What? She just tried to kill me and nothing?_

Umi kept sprinting, turning a corner she saw the cloak abandoned on the ground, steps reverberating further away. Umi felt her strength seeping away from the wound. She stopped and knelt down.

“Inspector Ayase.”  
“Yes.”  
“I require a medvac and an evidence pickup at my location.”  
“A medvac? Are you injured?”  
“Quite… and my dominator malfunctioned, even though the suspect placed a munition against me, it remained locked.”  
“Medvac is on its way, hold on.”  
“I will just rest here against the wall…”

Umi closed her eyes.

“Sonoda! Umi! Umi..!” voices spoke her name in her dreams.

* * *

“She lost a lot of blood, her running didn’t help, but she should be fine in a day or so.” Maki said, looking over the chart. She placed a hand on Kotori’s shoulder.  
“She’s going to sleep for at least seven hours with the stuff that is swimming in her blood stream. Get some rest, ok. She wouldn’t want you completely out of it when she wakes up.”

Kotori nodded and slowly left the room.

“Nico…” Maki addressed the other person in the room, “will you tell me?”

Nico looked very uncomfortable for a moment, then nodded.

“Sure. Your place.”

* * *

They walked silently through the corridors, an uncertain tension in the air, after they arrived at Maki’s quarters, Nico sat down in the sofa pulled her knees up and hugged them.

“I told you I once sang for audiences, right?”  
“Yeah.” Maki sat down next to Nico, putting some coffee in the table.  
“What I didn’t tell you was where and how… I was an idol performer in the underground scene. Hell on your hue, good money and a crowd that doesn’t hold back. I sang covers, I sang my own material. If the crowd was happy, and I got to perform... I was happy. Money was a good incentive too for… some things that I’m in hindsight maybe not all too proud off. You see, my father died when I was small and I have three siblings. My mom can’t make it on her own so I started to underground circuit, figured I’ll get us out of that hole and then quit.”

Nico paused, looking at Maki with a sad look.

“Didn’t work out that way, as you might have guessed.”

She took a sip of coffee.

“Yough.. too bitter, you only have black?”  
“Yeah, sorry.”

Nico patted Maki’s leg.

“It’s ok… where was I… right… then she showed up… her name is… eh… was Anju Yuki. We got on fine at first, just another performer, then something went off the deep end, we started to get into verbal spats, small fight. Guess we were just to competitive.”

Nico began to sniffle.

“I love to be on stage, music was my life. And like you… it was taken away from me… and more.” Nico wiped away a tear, “one night before a competition in a club, she was waiting for me. One hit and my dream was over. She broke my leg and cause some major damage. I snapped and attacked her. It’s all a blur, guess she had reconstructive surgery after. From what I heard it took several paralyser rounds to put me down. I was rabid and high on whatever I had that day.”

Nico couldn’t stop her tears anymore. Reliving the memory was painful. Maki put her arm around Nico.

“The worst part… the worst was seeing my mom on the other side of that glass… saying that they won’t let me out. She looked so… so… disappointed and hurt…”  
“What happened then?”  
“She stood up and left. I shouted and begged her to stay… she just left…she—she left.”

Nico stared ahead with a blank stare.

“She sends messages, letters, and sometimes the kids… I’ve never opened them. I can’t bear to see them… so I hide behind the violence that is my only escape…”  
“You got me too.”  
“Huh?” Nico didn’t seem to understand.  
“You’re not alone. I’m here.”

Nico threw her harms around Maki’s neck and buried her head in her shoulder.

“Don’t leave, ok?”  
“Never.”

* * *

Eli wandered the hallways of the MWPSB with a clear goal in mind, she tried to reason with herself to change her destination, but she couldn’t. Therapy was therapy and she wouldn’t miss a session. But she kept asking herself if this really was right, if she wasn’t deluding herself and setting herself up for a whiplash back into the ranks of the latent criminals, back into the cage.

She arrived at her destination and hesitantly, knocked on the door. It opened.

“I was wondering when you’d come.” said Nozomi, wearing something that hardly could be described as clothing, the sheer transparency of it and what it revealed sending signals to Eli’s nethers that she’d rather keep secret.

Nozomi opened the door a bit wider: “Come in.”


	19. Chasing the unchaseable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A local disturbance proves to be bigger importance than initially expected.

Eli walked the familiar hallways of the floor of the MWPSB where the chief had her office. She’d woken up, naked, next to a sleeping, naked Nozomi. Her suit had its various parts flung into parts of the room she wasn’t even aware of. She’d sat on the edge of the bed, listening to the low, rhythmic breaths of… what was Nozomi Tojo now? Her fellow inspector? Her therapist? Her lover? In some ways, Eli couldn’t understand either herself or Nozomi. It was like when they were in that room, when there was no fear of going back into the cage, even of though the fear was waiting just outside the door to ambush her. As soon as they heard the click, they were freed from the shackles that bound them, leaping onto each other like hungry wolves, holding nothing back. Eli had put her hand on Nozomi’s cheek before she’d left the room, trying to siphon a bit of the control that Nozomi had outside the room. She’d felt the warmth in her hand until she’d reached her destination floor.  
She was now sitting outside the chief’s office, the large, black sofas feeling oppressive and confining, with the reason for her visit lying open on the table in front of her, Sonoda’s Dominator.  
No one had been able to explain how the device had remained in locked mode when Sonoda had aimed at a suspect that had thrown, what appeared to be a stake launcher, in her path that had injured her severely and might have killed her if not for her quick reflexes. Sonoda was now recovering, and Eli was having doubts as to the systems accuracy.  
Eli kept mulling over the scenario, the chief would probably dismiss her, saying that her prior experiences had given her little trust in the system, maybe even demote her. How could she make an argument that would not cast doubts on the system but still enable her to get her suspects detained if possible or killed if necessary?  
She became aware of steps that were coming towards her, or more likely, the sofas and an appointment with the chief. The stopped opposite her and she saw Akane Tsunemori sit down.

“Ayase.”  
“Tsunemori.”  
“Going to shoot the chief?” Tsunemori said as she leant forward to look at the Dominator.  
“No. Last night, in the field, it failed. Perp threw a trap munition at one of my enforcers, injuring her. Her Dominator didn’t register anything above 50 so it didn’t fire. The perp got away. Every check we do tells us nothing is wrong with it.” Eli explain curtly.

Tsunemori seemed lost in thought, looking at the Dominator.

“Is she ok, your enforcer?”  
“It was Sonoda, she’d call a cut of limb a flesh wound, but yeah. Her quick reflexes helped her from getting too injured so she’ll be up in a day or so.”  
“Would you mind if I have a look at it?”  
“The case file?”  
“No.” she pointed at the Dominator, “This.”  
“Sure. Go ahead.”

Tsunemori slowly stood up, reaching for the dominator and put it in her hand. Eli saw her eyes light up with the familiar hue of the projected holographic targeting system. She walked some distance away, keeping her back to Eli. Her body language looked to Eli like she was either doing something with the interface or _talking_ to it. This persisted for a few minutes while Eli tried to rubberneck in order to see what was going on. Then Tsunemori straightened up, turned back and walked back to Eli, the now inert Dominator in her hand. She let it balance on her finger and held it out to Eli.

“This should do?”  
“Excuse me?” Eli asked, looking from Tsunemori to the Dominator and back.  
“All your divisions Dominators should now operate in stun mode without a coefficient check.”  
“Huh? But h—”

The chief’s office door opened.

“Inspector Tsunemori? Please come in. Inspector Ayase, I just heard your Dominator problem has been handled, please return to your division to brief them.” she heard the chief say as Tsunemori entered the office and the door began to close.

Dumbfounded, Eli stood up and walked away, carrying the Dominator with her.

* * *

“Just like that?” Hoshizora asked.  
“Just like that.” Eli nodded.

A thinking silence spread across the room. Sonoda, who was joining the meeting by link, was also silent.

“How come we didn’t know about that?” Nozomi asked.  
“Because it’s bullshit!” Nico answered, “ _Talking_ to the Dominator? _Reasoning_ with it or something? That’s just a load of crap.”  
“Well, she said she did it…” Eli muttered, “and when I tried it at the range it registered as a stun.”

Eli looked around the office, everyone had the same expression, confusion.

* * *

“There you are.” A voice said behind Tsubasa, venom dripping from every syllable.

She slowly turned around to see the green eyes and violet hair of her former accomplice.

“I told you Erena, it wasn’t me.”

The fires of hate in the green didn’t subside.

“You betrayed us… betrayed her! Even if you didn’t shove her off that roof yourself, it would have never happened if you hadn’t gone all soft for that _inspector_.”

Erena spat on the ground.

“She… she was the only thing I ever gave a damn about… and you…” her voice changed from sobbing to enraged, “you are going to pay… slowly.”  
“I don’t want to fight you.” Tsubasa started to back away.  
“No choice!” Erena said and lunged.

* * *

“What do we have?” Eli shouted over the klaxon, “and turn that thing off.”

The klaxon silence, but red borders were still flashing on the screens.

“Elevated area stress at first, then we got this.” Yazawa said and pressed a few keys on her tablet.

The main projection changed from a map to live video footage. Two people were engaged in an on foot chase, ducking and weaving through the other pedestrians, most likely what had caused the heightened area stress. But there was something else, several people behind the two were sitter/laying by the side of the sidewalk, clutching arms and legs.

“Yazawa, Nishikino, Minami. We’re going. Report to the paddy wagon. The rest, keep us updated on the progress. Let’s move.” Eli said and started walk towards the door.

A few stories lower down, legs started to delicately to move, heading towards the elevator to the parking garage.

* * *

Eli Ayase arrived at her car and found Honoka Kosaka waiting for her.

“I’m going with.” She said.  
“Wh—what? Are you out of your mind? And you should be in medical”  
“I can talk to her. I can save her.”  
“She tried to kill you.”  
“And she saved me. Please. I have to try.”

The stares exchanged could have lit the entire city for a year. Ayase’s writs-com beeped.

_Wagon heading out._

Eli made a decision.

“Get in. I’m driving.”, they both got in and drive away.

* * *

Tsubasa ran. Zig zagging and weaving, she heard the whistle of knives left and right of her and the screams of the passers-by that were struck by them. In all this, the only other thing she heard was her heartbeat. Loud, heavy, faltering. Fuelled by her rage, Erena seemed to have an unending stamina and Tsubasa knew it was just a matter of time. Running through the narrow alleys had given her no shelter instead it had painted the bulls-eye on her back that much brighter for Erena to see. She had turned into the crowded streets, hoping against all odds that the disturbance would be registered. She knew that they were ghosts, but maybe the presence of the MWPSB would deter Erena from chasing her. She would just vanish into the crowd again.

* * *

The paddy wagon stopped, lowering its ramp, releasing the enforcers. Eli briefed them.

“They’ve been running for quite a while and should be getting close to us soon, medics are treating the injured, and sadly we can’t avoid more, for we have no idea what will happen once they realize we don’t have to scan them to fire. That said, aim carefully, don’t hit any civilians and stay calm. Questions?”  
“Just one”, Yazawa said pointing at Kosaka, “Sorry inspector, but what are you doing here? For all I know you should be in medical.”  
“I…” Honoka began but Eli cut her off.  
“She’s here on my request. Maybe we can use her connection to Kira to reel her in.”  
“You’re insane.”  
“Been called worse. Ok, let’s go. Minami, you take the lead. Consider this your graduation training.”

Over the wrist-com, Koizumi said: “They are coming to you. Be ready!”

“Move!” Eli commanded.

* * *

Kotori saw them first, two figures running opposite to the flow of people, she began to run parallel to them, avoiding the collide with anyone as she slowly edged closer. She could hear Nishikino behind her, breathing hard, she assumed Yazawa and the inspector were going on a similar path. The crowd began to thin out, Kotori aimed her Dominator.

_Dominator Suppression System Online. Locked stun mode. Aim and subdue the target._

Kotori aimed and pressed the trigger.

* * *

Two shafts of light flew past Tsubasa and Erena and impacted on the walls close to where they had been, scorching it. Both stopped and looked around.

“What did…?” Erena began to ask, but her question was cut short by another bolt impacting near her feet. She turned around to see four figures running towards them. Erena changed direction and ran, Tsubasa continued running forward, ducking and weaving until she found a turn, disappearing from sight. The pursuers split up, following them both.

* * *

Inspector Honoka Kosaka, temporarily on sick-leave, walked around the alleys near where Ayase had parked before they all had run off in pursuit. She got the occasional update, but since the split, they had become sparse. She was thankful that the Dominator didn’t weigh much, in her state any great excretion was probably not a good idea. She heard a sound behind her and turned around, aiming down the alley, nothing.

“It’s where you don’t look.” she suddenly heard behind her and before she could react, she found herself in a headlock with a something sharp touching her neck.  
“Nice to see you again… _Inspector_.” Said the voice, “Now, why don’t we find some place…”  
“ _ERENA!_ ”  
“ohhh.. your _darling_ has come to play. What about it Tsubasa. Let’s do her and all will be forgiven, I’ll even let you have the first cut… here.”

Honoka heard a clang.

Tsubasa came out of the shadows, knelt down and picked up a knife. Probably the one Erena had thrown at her. Honoka saw her gingerly touching it.

“Let her go, Erena. It’s me you want remember.”  
“Yes, but I want all back.”  
“Anju is dead.”  
“I know… she dies, then you. I’ll even let you watch as she bleeds out.”  
“What kind of a crap deal is that?”  
“Or I play with her first…”

Honoka saw a glimmer of light in Tsubasa’s eyes.

“Honoka?”  
“Y—yes.”  
“I won’t harm you and I won’t let her harm you.” Tsubasa tried to reassure Honoka.  
“Enough” Honoka felt Erena pushing the knife into her neck, the skin still protected by barely visible bandages that Erena probably had missed, “What the…?”  
“Trust me, Honoka.” Tsubasa said and threw the knife.

Honoka saw the knife coming towards her in slow motion, following a straight path that would intersect with her face. Even as she saw it come, she knew she could do nothing, she could only watch. The silver sheen of the metal came closer and closer, and, expecting the pain, Honoka closed her eyes. She felt the air move as the knife sailed along her cheek, but there wasn’t any pain. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her, then a scream. The lock on her loosened and fell away. Then she was standing free, steps rapidly moving away from her. She still saw Tsubasa right in front of her, the arm that had held the knife outstretched.  
As their eyes looking into each other’s souls, they barely registered the sounds of blasts that were coming from another street close-by.  
Tsubasa knelt, more knifes dropping to the ground and looked up at Honoka.

“Well, Inspector. Do you job.” She said with a sad smile.

Like on automatic, Honoka stepped closer, raising her Dominator, aiming it at Tsubasa’s chest.

“No speech?” she asked.  
“No.” Tsubasa said, “Just… just I’m glad it’s you. Good-bye my love.” She closed her eyes.

Honoka stepped closer and knelt down, taking Tsubasa’s face to her own and placing a tender kiss on her lips. Tears were running down Honoka’s face when she stood up again.

“Sorry it has to be like this.” Honoka said with a broken voice. She pressed down on the trigger.


	20. Choices and morals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pieces caught and pieces laid out.

The alleys spread like a network of nerves throughout the city, feeding of its pulse and flow of humanity. Often disregarded by automated systems and public alike for being difficult to traverse and not very well lit, it remained a shelter for the ones _outside_ of the system, either by choice or by fear.

Tonight, bolts of lightning and thunderous steps echoed through the narrow streets, sound reverberating of the walls, making each ping a loud clap.  
Erena ran like a woman possessed, the apex predator turned into the lowest of they prey animals. Her brain was trying to understand how the MWPSB could fire their weapons at her. The scanners and cameras didn’t seem to care about her, then, how could they? It didn’t really matter, but it was important, for as long as they could do that, she’d be in danger. She kept ducking an weaving, taking one corner that way and the next the other, anything to gain some distance, but they always seemed to be on to her. She had long since run out of anything she could use as a weapon, not that it mattered with bolts of light tailing her. She had heard that two sets of steps had become one, no doubt the other set of feet marching in a different direction, trying to cut her off no doubt.

Erena started to slow her running, turning to entrances and crevices to hide, waiting for her quarry to pass her. She felt her belt; one knife remained, the one that Tsubasa had lodged in her arm, long since discarded. Erena saw a small opening, not much wider than her depth and pressed herself inside, the steps of her pursuer getting closer, slowing down as the sound of running footsteps had disappeared. She saw a figure pass her hideaway, beige blonde hair contrasting the dark suit it fell on. She waited, then as silently as she could she took hold of the knife and slid out of her hideaway, aiming at her tail, she threw the knife.  
As the knife darted through the air towards her target, Erena just managed to see how, in the blink of an eye, her target had turned towards her in a half squat, the target for the knife now under its trajectory, the air above providing no residence as it flew overhead. Erena just managed to see a shaft of bright white light coming towards her, then everything went dark.

Kotori walked up to the figure laying on the ground, Dominator at the ready. She knelt down and brushed some heir off the face. A façade of surprise faced her, the eyes hidden behind closed lids, breathing slow but steady. She activated her wrist-com.

“This is Taiko 5. She’s down.”  
“Are you all right?” the voice of Inspector Ayase sounded worried.  
“Not a scratch. Sending my location for pickup.”  
“We read you. Taiko 1 will join you shortly. Ayase out.”

Kotori knew what the stun setting did and how long it lasted, still she kept her weapon ready. She didn’t want to get caught unprepared. The sounds of the night surrounded her, the friendly voices of the drones urging people to stay away. Kotori regarded the figure.

_Were you one of them? What did you see in me and why did you take my life away from me?_

She’d at length thought about what she would do when she was eye-to-eye with her nightmare. What would she do? How would she feel? She had figured that there would be rage in her, an anger she would not be able to control. A life for a life. She would take back what she had lost to the others loss. But now, faced with the choice, she hesitated. Repeated hits with the Dominator, even on stun, were fatal, and with the device no longer actively scanning its target, there was nothing to prevent it from discharging, apart from the desire of the registered user.  
She slowly tilted the Dominator on its side, the faint electric blue logo that usually had two pulsating blue line of light, now displaying a steady green hue. She let it fall back into a more comfortable grip and aimed at the head.

_You took my life, I’ll take yours._

Her finger moved closer to the trigger and just before it connected, Kotori jerked the Dominator upwards towards the sky. A shaft of blue left the muzzle, streaking into the night sky until it faded.

_No. I am not you._

“It’s never worth the cost.” Nishikino said behind her.  
“I know.” Kotori said, lowering the Dominator.

_I am me._

* * *

Everything hurt.

As consciousness slowly began to inhabit her body, more and more pain registered. This, however, also was good sign that she was alive, and all her limbs were where they were supposed to be and attached. Tsubasa Kira was still alive. Slowly, other senses began to make them selves know. She recognized that she was sitting, that her arms and legs had pressure applied to them and that wherever she was, there was no sound, but her own heartbeat that she heard through her body and that there was light where ever she was. Trying to move, she felt her fingers respond first, her toes next with her legs and arms soon following. She was indeed sitting up, her body being held up in some way and both her legs and arms restrained. When she tried opening her eyes, the light made her see stars, it was so bright. Gradually, her eyes readjusted to the brightness and she was able to look where she was.

The room was barren, except for a table, where her chair was, a sofa or bed in the corner and another person looking at her.

“We were wondering who it would be when you woke up. I think you should be happy it’s me.”, the woman opposite her said.  
She was dressed in a black suit that she filled quite well, long hair put into a single braid hung on her shoulder and her green eyes seemed to stare into Tsubasa’s soul. In front of the woman, cards with strange pictures were laid out. She had no idea what they were or what purpose they served in a game.

Her memory came flooding back. Honoka! Honoka had aimed her weapon at her after giving her one last kiss. Then… then nothing. Honoka. Honoka! She wasn’t here. What had happened to her? Was she…

“Where’s Honoka? Is she ok? Tell me, please!” Tsubasa demanded in as much an authoritative voice as she could. She knew she was not very successful.  
“ _Inspector Kosaka_ is fine.” Tsubasa sighed in relief, “My colleague found her holding your body by her squad car. She’s in medical, but the excretion should not result in any damage.”  
“I’m glad. Now… what do you want from me?”  
“You don’t want to see her?” the teasing in the other’s voice was clear as day, Tsubasa missed it.  
“Of course I want to. I want to tell her how sorry I am and that… that… I… ehh…”  
“Oh, I know already.”

_Huh?_

“You’re in love with her, that’s why you saved her.”  
“But…” Tsubasa was dumbfounded, “how do you...?”  
“Like this.” She held up a card with the figure of a man and a woman. It said _The Lovers_ underneath.”

Tsubasa looked on as the other woman got up, smiled and left the room, closing the door behind her, leaving her alone in the room.

When Nozomi closed the door, Eli eyed her suspiciously.

“Well?”  
“She passes. The other one… well… let’s just say, I’d put her away. Far away. This one…” she pointed at the door, “could prove to be a good catch.”  
“Think she’ll agree?”  
“It will depend who asks.”  
“And…”  
“Kosaka is the one she’ll do it for. Not me or you. She on her way?”

Eli nodded.

“Got discharged a few minutes ago. Not a cloud in her hue.”  
“The let’s wait… and to pass the time…” Nozomi lent forward, catching Eli off-guard, and caught the blonde’s lips.

Loosing herself in the sensation for a moment, Eli returned the given affection, then the realization of where they were came and she pushed Nozomi away, eyes wide with panic, checking her wrist-com.

“You’re good.” Nozomi said, “In fact, you’re better. Look.” She pointed at the readout.

_44 Clear blue_

“See?”  
“But how? I’ve never been…”  
“Don’t worry too much.” Nozomi interrupted her and pushed their lips together again, Eli didn’t resist.

“Ehrrm” said a voice next to them and they both jumped, creating distance.  
“Inspector Kosaka, there you are…” a flustered Eli said.  
“She’s mine.” Nozomi said, wrapping her arms around Eli, making the blond blush profusely.

Honoka pointed at the door.

“She’s in there?”

Both nodded.

“Nervous?” Nozomi asked.  
“I did shoot her.” Honoka replied, looking at the floor.  
“She asked for you, you know? Asked if you were well.”  
“She… she did?”  
“Yes. So. you have a choice to make and a question to ask her.”  
“Ok.” She took a deep breath and opened the door.

When she closed the door behind her, Tsubasa asked:

“Who’s there? Honoka? Lady with the cards?”, the voice was edged with fear.  
“It’s me.” Honoka said, defusing the panic in both herself and Tsubasa.  
“Thank god. I was worried I wasn’t going to see you. And… whatever you did… it hurt.”  
“I’m sorry, I…”, she sat down.  
“It’s ok. I’m just glad you’re safe. Did she hurt you?”  
“Who? Oh. No. But she could have if not for you.”  
“I know, and it’s my fault too.”

Silence hovered over the table.

“Tell me already. I can handle it.” Tsubasa finally said.  
“What?”  
“You want to tell me something important, and you’re not sure how.”  
“Yeah.” Honoka drew out the answer, “It’s about your… condition.”  
“I guess you figured out what it is by now?”  
“Yeah, synesthesia.”  
“Most things I see as grey, but you… I can see your orange hair, blue eyes, the redness on your cheeks. I’ve never seen that with anyone before. You’re amazing.”  
“I’m not. I’m just a baker’s daughter.”  
“Still amazing. Honoka, I…” Tsubasa tried to be calm, “I know that I have, with the others, done terrible things… and… and that I will have to pay for it.”

She looked at Honoka and tried to smile.

“And I know you’re here to tell me what it is.”  
“Yes.” Honoka whispered.  
“Silly girl. It’s ok. Whatever it is, I’m ready.”

Honoka took some papers out of her jacket and put them on the table.

“This is …”

* * *

_Despite the reading of 50 on the crime coefficient scan, the subject is acting aggressive and borderline homicidal when approached, resulting in damage to personnel and equipment. Though the initial theory by M. Nishikino of synesthesia has been confirmed, the irregular response to the semantic scan is not yet understood. Further conditioning of the subject with regards to the display aggressiveness is being considered, as well as a virtual environment for the subject to ‘reside’ in order to separate the subject from physical stimuli and only have her acting and reacting on virtual stimuli that will be unknown to her._

_This concludes this report._


	21. Epilogue: New endings and past beginnings

**One week later**

The doors closed behind Eli with a heavy sigh. She had no illusion that they wouldn’t open until the chief was satisfied with their conversation.

_She’ll close us down. Case is solved and shut._

“Inspector Ayase, please sit.” The chief said pointing out a chair in front of her desk.  
“Thank you, ma’am.”

She sat down.

“Now, I’ve read your report and you are quite confident in that the perpetrators of these crimes have been dealt with?”  
“Yes. We don’t believe there were any others than the three mentioned.”  
“I see. So, your division achieved what it set out to do.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”

_She’s canning us._

“In that case, I don’t see any reason to keep you, inspector.” the chief made a waving motion, “have your team look over these cases. We need to keep the public safe _and unaware_.”  
“Chief, we shouldn’t be disba… ehh excuse me? What did you say?” Eli halted, looking perplexed.  
“I’ve sent some cases over to your team, the other Divisions are full on case-work so this will be good arrangement.”  
“I.. ehh… yes. Thank you, ma’am.”

Eli remained sitting.

“Was there anything else inspector?”  
“Ehh.. no.” she stood up, “I’ll be going then… to my team.”

Eli walked briskly towards the large doors that opened to let her through, then closed behind her.  
Akane Tsunemori, stepped out from an alcove that had been hidden behind some environment holographics.

“What will Sybil do with the prisoner? Isn’t she what you call _criminally asymptomatic_?”  
“She is, but” the voice of the chief had a more machinelike quality to it, “there is no reason to extract her brain for our function. She is an anomaly, but not in her brain chemistry. We have determined that it does scan correctly, however, the current scanners don’t work with her due to a rare genetic incompatibility.”  
“Her condition?”  
“Correct. Same applies for the other, but there we have determined that having her in her current location will yield better comparative data.”

Akane walked towards the door.

“I see. I will hold you to it that you don’t harm them.”  
“It would be detrimental to my design to do so. So I will not.”  
“I’ll keep my eye on them.”

The doors opened and Akane stepped outside, feeling a small victory.

* * *

She looked at herself in the mirror as she put the finishing touches to her outfit. She had always been one for suits, ever since the uniforms she had worn in her teens had consisted of blazers and ties. Then, however, skirts had been the order of the day for her, now, the black suit pants graced her legs, making them seem longer and she herself felt taller. Appearance holography aside, the feel of real fabric just made you feel more… present.

“Left, please” she said, the image shifted to her left side.  
“Right, please” the image shifted to her right.

Looking at the angles, she knew that she could wear it, but the doubts if she should wouldn’t leave her alone. She hadn’t expected this to happen, this option to present itself, and no less, have her in her life. She had wished for it, but awareness of her past life was there. Once a source of pleasure, now, the only thing she felt was shame and remorse. Was it just a technical glitch that had saved her? Or something else? She would probably never know the exact answer, but of one thing she was certain; she had a long road ahead, if any redemption was to be granted.  
Lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed that the mirror had reset itself. Suddenly arms reached around her from behind, entrapping her in a hug, she momentarily froze, then saw a mop of unruly orange hair peek out from over her shoulder.

“It will be ok.”  
“It fits fine.”  
“Not that, and you know it.”

Tsubasa sighed.

“But… I’m responsible. I am the reason…”  
“Shh… I know.” Honoka put her finger on Tsubasa’s lips, “And they know that you were granted a sentence Erena will never hope to receive. You’ll have the opportunity to pay back. She’ll never have that.”  
“But…”  
“No buts. I vouched for you. I know it will be hard to gain their trust, but they’ll see that you’ve changed.”

Tsubasa freed herself enough so she could turn around.

“You should get dressed too, inspector. I don’t think showing up in just your panties for a briefing will cast me in a good light.”

Honoka blushed at the bluntness.

“Just a small treat so you feel motivated.” Honoka pressed herself against Tsubasa.  
“Silly girl, you give the treat after… but I can’t say no to you.”

Their lips met and a singular hand moved down the naked body.

* * *

Nico looked at the controls next to the large pane of opaque material. Taking a deep breath, she touched it and the large window became translucent. The occupant of the room beyond, turned her head slowly and grinned menacingly.

“Oh hello _Nico-Nii_ … what gives me the pleasure of your visit?”

The occupant leapt up and slammed her hand into the windows here Nico’s head was on the other side.

“Hello Erena. When I saw Anju… I knew you were probably close behind.”  
“Don’t you say her name!” Erena hissed, “You will never be worthy to speak it, she was so superior to you, prettier than you. She was _better_ … than you!”

Erena, pressed herself against the glass.

“How’s the leg? Still hurts? Can’t dance anymore? I’m _so sorry_.” She said mockingly, “you would have ended up in the gutter anyway… or used like some sex doll and discarded on the wayside… with more people paying to fuck you than paying to hear you. A hole is all you ever were… dumped and forgotten.”

Nico looked at her, eyes on fire with contempt.

“You know…” Erena continued, “they were going to fire you anyway. Too pretty, too perfect, too bossy. They were going to fire you and then send some boys after you… and your siblings when they figured it out. And they’d make you watch, while they used you…”  
“I feel sorry for you.” Nico spoke up.  
“Don’t you dare.”  
“But I do. For this…” she gestured at the room, “is all you will ever have. I can turn, and walk away, enjoy the sunlight, you will only see artificial light for the rest of time. _Until you die._ You can’t hurt me or anyone… anymore. Good-bye.”  
“You little shit don’t you pity me… I will…”

The rest was cut off as Nico switched the surface back to opaque. She heard the thumping on the glass but turned and walked away.

Near the exit, Maki was waiting.

“You ok?”  
“I think so… yeah.” Nico smiled at Maki, “I think I am.”  
“And you don’t limp anymore.”  
“I don’t?”  
“Doctor knows what she sees,” she held out her hand, “ready to go?”  
“Let’s.” Nico took Maki’s hand and they walked out of the facility.

Nozomi was waiting for them by the car.

“Nico.”  
“Yes, inspector?”  
“So businesslike” she grinned, “I have a small surprise for you. Well not that small, but still a surprise.”  
“Oh?”  
“I should be here…” they heard the sound of a van approaching, “coming right now.”

I black van, complete with the logo of the Public Safety Bureau, drove up to them. The side doors opened and a tall woman with black hair and red eyes exited, followed by two girls, that shared the same traits and a boy, who also shared the same hair and eye colour, all in their late teens.

Nico stood transfixed, having a hard time to process what she was seeing. The tall woman, the teens surrounding her, stepped with weary steps up to Nico.

“M—mama?” Nico said in a squeaky voice, tears slowly forming.

The woman, her own tears streaking down her cheeks, opened her arms.

“Nico…”

* * *

Rin Hoshizora woke up and looked at the sleeping face of Hanayo Koizumi.

_She’s so pretty, so cute. I’m so lucky._

Rin began placing kisses on Hanayo’s face. The video analyst started to stir.

“Let me sleep….” She said.  
“Kayo-chin… we need to get up. Briefing starts soon.”  
“Just five more minutes. “  
“No. Shower… now.” She got up and pulled the covers of the bed.

 _So perfect_.

“Come on… or I’ll carry you.”

Somehow Rin managed to pull Hanayo into the shower, with the warm water spraying them from every angle, Hanayo slowly awoke.

“We’ve got about fifteen minutes.” Rin said as the water sprayed.  
“Time enough” Hanayo mumbled and caught Rin’s lips, going deep.

* * *

They had finished their regular run around the exercise area and showered in the adjacent facilities. When they were getting dressed Kotori asked Umi:

“How come we never asked each other out?”

Umi looked puzzled.

“We never needed to. We were linked from that day onward. What we have is stronger and more important than anything else.” She combed her hair, “Is that not enough?”  
“It is… but it isn’t. You’ve always been there for me, when I was weak and scared. You always held me and let me have my way… I want that to change.”  
“Change how?”  
“I want us to be equal. I want you to be able to lean on me when you need to. I… what I want to say… I… “ Kotori knelt on the floor, “I love you Umi. Will you go out with me?”  
“Kotori, we’re in the changing room… we’re not dressed… what if…”  
“Answer my question.” Kotori interrupted, looking at Umi, “Please?”

Umi sighed.

“You’re being utterly shameless… but yes. Of course I will go out with you, if you will have me.”

The other runners on the course heard a small happy shriek as they passed the changing facilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there and thank you for sticking with this... probably longest thing I have written to date.
> 
> I do hope that you enjoyed the story of Division L of the MWPSB in the Psycho-Pass universe.
> 
> Any comment are, as always, welcome.


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